


Be My Guest || Klance Restaurant AU

by invisible_light



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gay Keith (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Siblings, M/M, Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Minor Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-05-15 00:34:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14780273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisible_light/pseuds/invisible_light
Summary: Keith needs a job, so his older brother Shiro suggests he join him as a waiter at the restaurant Alfor's Court, where he meets the kind yet intimidating manager Allura, the quirky assistant manager Coran, the intelligent hostess Pidge, the friendly cook Hunk, and the charming waiter Lance, who he discovers is to train him. Let's just say, things don't go exactly as he planned them to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Keith POV**

_Beeeep. Beeeep. Beeeep._

I groaned as I opened my eyes groggily, swiping at my alarm clock wildly with one arm. Maybe by some miracle I would actually hit it today.

"Rise and shine, little brother!"

"Shirooooo," I whined as he came over and turned off my alarm clock like he always did. "It's too early for this," I told him as I burrowed deeper into my blankets.

"You have your first day of work today, and I'm not about to let you show up late," my older brother told me as he walked over and opened my curtains. I hissed as the bright sunlight streamed in. "Oh, come on," Shiro said, walking over and grabbing my arms to drag me partially out of bed. "Breakfast will be ready in five minutes, okay?"

I growled in response, struggling to untangle my legs from my sheets. I looked up and noticed that he'd left the door open. Ugh, that stupid trick. I'd have to get up to close it, and then I'd already be up so there was no point in going back to sleep. "Curse you, Shiro!" I yelled as I got up and stomped over to the door.

"Hey, don't shout at me!" he called from down the hall in the kitchen. "Remember I told you there was a cute waiter there?"

"Shut up!" I cried, slamming the door, but I knew my face was red. This idiot brother of mine knew just how to get me moving in the morning.

A few minutes later, I walked into the kitchen wearing a dark red button-up with a black bow tie and black slacks. I was definitely going to get overheated as it was only early fall, but that wasn't my highest priority right now. I just wanted to make sure I looked decent for my first day so I could make a good first impression.

"Looking snazzy," Shiro commented as he gave me a plate of pancakes. He was wearing the same outfit as me, save for the fact that his shirt was purple instead of red. "Wanting to look nice for cute boy?"

"Shut up," I muttered as I stabbed a pancake with my fork. "I haven't even met him yet," I said before shoving the entire thing in my mouth.

"I already know you guys are going to get along great, though," Shiro told me.

"What about you and Allura?" I said quickly to change the subject. "You said that you convinced her to give me the job without so much as an interview. Now how exactly did you 'convince' her?"

Shiro's face was pink as he struggled to find his words. I smirked as I finished my last pancake, enjoying every second of his embarrassment.

"I- I just told her you need a job and that you were my brother and she said we needed another waiter anyway so you were hired," he finally stuttered out. "There's nothing between us, we just work together."

"Nothing besides the fact that you have a major crush on her," I teased, getting up to put my plate in the sink.

"Shut up!"

I walked away laughing, ducking into the bathroom to slick back my hair before Shiro called for me to hurry up. "What's the rush?" I asked him as we walked out to his car, pausing briefly to lock the door to his apartment.

"Employees are supposed to be there half an hour before we open, and I like to be there fifteen minutes before that," he said simply. "And thanks to you taking forever to wake up, we're gonna be late."

"Just drive fast," I replied as I got into the passenger seat. "I can shout at people out the window if that will help any, or knock some sense into them if need be."

"You're not going to fight anyone on the side of the road today," my brother told me, starting the car. "You can't show up to work with a black eye and covered in someone else's blood."

"Who said there would be blood?!" I protested.

Shiro only sighed as he slammed his foot on the gas pedal and sped up. The rest of the drive was filled with a comfortable silence that was between us more often than not, and I rested my head against the window as I looked around at the city. It had been a while since I'd lived in such a busy place, so it was difficult for me to adjust to the large amount of people here. For the most part I didn't adjust, I only looked intimidating and angry enough that everyone left me alone and I didn't have to talk to anyone. Of course, this would be difficult at a job where I was expected to be friendly and outgoing, but I would just have to adapt.

"We're here," Shiro said with renewed cheerfulness as he pulled into the parking lot of a large building. I looked out the window to see that it even looked sort of like a castle, the name "Alfor's Court" in large, fancy script over the entrance. I noticed a few teal flags above the words, and assumed that the place must have a teal theme then. Wonderful. I didn't exactly care for the color blue.

Shiro parked in the employee lot behind the building and we entered through a back door. "Allura, we're here!" he called out as we passed through a break room and entered the main part of the restaurant. I paused for a moment to take it all in: the white tablecloths on the tables, the low lighting that came from old-fashioned looking light bulbs all around, the delicious smell already coming from the kitchen... As much as I didn't want to admit it, I loved the place already.

"You're just here to make money, you're not here to make friends," I reminded myself as I noticed some people approaching us.

"Hey, Shiro!" a shorter, brown-haired person with glasses high-fived my brother as they approached. "How's it going?"

I studied the person from afar for a minute, growing more and more unsure of their gender by the moment. They had a feminine voice and face, but they were wearing an outfit that was identical to mine (except for a green shirt instead of a red one) and didn't seem to-

"You must be Keith."

I blinked as I realized they were looking right at me now, their hand outstretched to shake. "I'm Pidge, and I'm a hostess here. You're going to be a waiter, right?"

 _Hostess_. Ah, so she was a girl.

"Uh, yeah," I said awkwardly, shaking her hand and quickly looking to my brother for backup.

"Oh, you didn't know, either," Pidge laughed. "It's chill. I'm a girl, in case you didn't notice from my title here."

"Sorry," I said quickly. "I just-"

"You're fine," she said with a smile. "I'm used to it by now." I noticed a hint of pain in her eyes when she said this, but it was gone within an instant and soon she was back to her energetic self. "So, you're Shiro's brother, huh? Got any embarrassing stories of him?"

I smirked, immediately wishing to throw Shiro into the center of humiliation instead of myself. "Oh, you have no idea. Now in high school there was this girl-"

"Okay, Keith, you can throw my soul away for everyone to see later, there are still more people for you to meet," Shiro interrupted, seeing where this was going. "See you later, Pidge."

"Bye," I called to her as Shiro led me away.

"Finish telling me that story later, okay?" Pidge shouted after me.

"You know it!"

"Why would you bring Jenny up?" Shiro groaned the second we were out of earshot. "You know that was my greatest mistake in my life."

"Really? Because I remember another girl in college-"

"Shiro!"

I turned to see a dark-haired man in a rumpled white shirt and an apron walking over to us, beaming as he held his arms out for a hug. He embraced my brother before he could protest, grinning when he pulled away. "So you've brought Keith in today, right? Where is he?"

"Right here," I said quietly. I always faded into the shadows somehow.

"Sorry I didn't see you, man," the stranger said, holding his hand out to shake. "I'm Hunk, the chef here. You're a waiter, right?"

"Yeah," I said, shaking his hand. I was already tired of these same questions over and over again, not to mention the handshakes. I knew these were nice people I was working with, but I wasn't here to make friends or have people to talk to on breaks. "Your food smells good," I commented, trying to ease my awkwardness. I had to be friendly, right?

"Thanks!" Hunk said, looking like I'd just told him he'd won the lottery. "All I want to do is make people happy with my food, you know?" he told me. "So I try to make sure every single dish is perfect and everyone feels better when they eat it."

"That's awesome," I told him. It really was, I was just bad at putting it into words. It was nice to have those kind of people out there who dedicated their lives to making others feel better.

"It's nice talking to you, Hunk, but Keith still has to meet Allura and Coran, as well as get a tour of the place before it opens," Shiro said.

"Oh, Lance was going to train him, remember?" Hunk replied. "So you won't have to worry too much about the tour, but he probably does need to meet everyone else. See you around, Keith, okay? Come visit me in the kitchen on your breaks sometime!"

"Will do," I said weakly before my brother pulled me away again.

"I can't believe I forgot," he murmured under his breath.

"Forgot this Lance guy was training me?" I asked. "Who even is that?"

"No one," Shiro said quickly, too quickly. He spotted two figures talking near the entrance and dragged me over faster than before, a fake smile on his face. "Hey, Allura! Coran! Look who I brought with me today!"

"Keith, huh?" A woman with long silver hair stood before me, a scrutinizing expression on her face as she looked me up and down. My stomach twisted with nerves and I looked down at my feet, not daring to meet her intimidating gaze. "Nice to meet you." My head snapped up to see the woman holding out her hand, a kind smile now on her face. "I'm Allura, the manager here and owner of the restaurant. You're Shiro's brother, right? I see the resemblance."

"Uh, I'm adopted, but thanks," I said awkwardly, shaking her hand.

"Oh, sorry," she blushed. "My mistake."

"No problem," I said quietly. I looked past her to see a redheaded man with a large mustache, the one Shiro had called Coran, I thought.

"Good to finally see you, Keith, after all we've heard about you," he said, stepping forward with a smile. "I'm Coran, assistant manager here."

"Pleasure," I replied. I paused before adding, "It's a pleasure to be working here." Cheesy, I know, but I felt like I had to say something formal to her. She seemed like that sort of person where I needed to make a good first impression, and not just because she was my boss now.

Allura smiled. "Thank you. I know you will be a good addition to our staff."

_I'm not here to make friends._

"Hunk said someone named Lance was going to train me?" I asked, not sure how to change the subject so I could go ahead and start training or whatever. "Where is he?"

"Ah, yes, Lance," Allura said, an unreadable expression on her face. "He should-"

"Did someone say 'Lance'?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of work continues from Keith's perspective. Let's just say, his mentor isn't exactly how he expected him to be.

Keith POV

I looked over at the source of the voice curiously and froze, my heart skipping a beat. Oh no. He was cute.

"Good, you finally showed up," Allura said dryly. "We open our doors in ten minutes, and it's a big day for you."

"Ooh, did I get a promotion?" the man said, stepping more into view. I struggled to keep from gasping. His brown hair hung down across his face, and a charming smile played across his lips. He wore the same "uniform" as the rest of the waiters, except with a blue shirt. And wow, that shirt really showed off his body... He was good-looking and he knew it well. Blue was definitely his color. "Finally! It's about time! I mean, I-"

"No, Lance, you didn't get a promotion," Shiro said, an annoyed tone in his voice that I knew all too well. "You get to train my little brother to work here."

"Ugh, this Keith guy you won't shut up about?" Lance said, his smile fading. "Oh, c'mon!"

"Right here, you know," I growled. Forget the fact that he was cute. This guy was annoying, too.

"So you're Keith?" Lance said, observing me just like Allura had. But his expression didn't change into a friendly one like hers had. If anything, it darkened even more. "Ugh, you like red? I hate that color."

"Well, blue's not exactly my favorite either," I commented.

"Stop fighting about colors and get to work," Shiro scolded. "What are you two, five?"

"Shiro's right," Allura said, that serious expression returning to her face. "You need to get started before any customers get here."

"Fine," Lance sighed. He walked over to me and I felt my stomach twisting again. What was he doing? What he actually going to talk to me? What- Oh. He just walked past me, assuming I would follow. I hated it, but I fell into step behind him, not knowing what else to do.

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm stuck training this guy with absolutely no experience at all," Lance mumbled under his breath as he walked into the employee room. He grabbed an apron-like piece of cloth and tied it around his waist, tucking his phone into one of the many pockets. Of course. He was one of those guys, addicted to his Snapchat score or whatever. Meanwhile the only contact I had in my phone was Shiro, and since I lived with him, I never used it. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I grabbed an apron-thing of my own and tied it around my waist like Lance had, looking up to see what he was doing now. Wait-where was he?

"Keep up, newbie." I whirled around to see Lance standing in the doorway behind me, hands on his hips impatiently. "We're opening up any minute now, and you don't know the slightest thing about this place. We have a lot of work to do."

"Just get to the point," I said angrily. "I'm not ecstatic about this either."

"Let's go," Lance muttered, gesturing for me to follow him. I did so begrudgingly, sighing as he led me around the restaurant, pointing out where things were in a monotone voice.

"If you love this place so much, can't you at least try to sound interested?" I muttered after a while. So far we'd only had two groups come in, and Shiro had taken care of them both, so neither of us had seen any action, and I was getting bored. You could only talk about the places to turn in trays a few times before I would rather be at home sleeping. Granted, it doesn't take much for me to want to go back home and sleep, but still.

"Well I'm sorry, you're not the one stuck with some emo, mullet guy who keeps sighing every five seconds!" Lance snapped.

"First off, it's not a mullet!" I retorted. "And second, I'm not emo! Third, I don't sigh every five seconds!"

"Yes it is a mullet, you are pretty emo, and just listen to yourself for a minute! You haven't stopped complaining this entire time!"

"I could say the same about you!" I yelled. "I get it, you don't like me! That much is obvious! But could you at least pretend like you don't want to kill me?! I'm just here for a job!"

"You-"

"Hey, stop it!"

I hadn't noticed how close together Lance and I had moved, and how our noses were almost touching at this point. Now Shiro stepped between us, pushing the two of us apart with a fierce glare on his face.

"You're so lucky we don't have any customers right now, or you both would be fired," he growled. "Now I understand this isn't the ideal situation for either of you, but I haven't been working here long enough to train Keith myself. So you'll both just have to suck it up and learn to work together, for both of your sakes."

"Sorry, Shiro," I murmured. "I should've been more mature about this whole situation."

"Me too," Lance muttered, but his sorry excuse for an apology seemed more directed at my brother than me. Granted, what did I expect? This was Lance here.

"I don't want apologies," Shiro said. "I want action. Both of you get along, or I'll see to it that you regret it."

"Yes, sir," Lance and I whispered in unison.

"Now back to work before Allura hears of this," Shiro said, turning and walking away. He had been completely calm for most of the interaction, but I knew I was going to get an earful the second we got a break.

"Great, now I'm in trouble with my brother. Thanks a lot, Lance," I said.

"Watch it, Mullet," he warned. "I'm not exactly pleased with the situation either."

"What is your problem with my hair?!" I yelled.

"Keith! Lance! Stop it!" Pidge shouted from the doorway. "People are coming and I'm not letting their meals be ruined because of your bickering! Now either take it out in the back or shut up!"

I took a deep breath and fixed my glare on Lance, trying to ignore the way his eyes were flashing in contrast to his skin and hair. "We're going to have to work together, whether we like it or not," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I will agree to stop fighting with you, at least for today, if you will do the same. I just want to get my pay and get out of this city."

Lance sighed. "Fine." He held out a hand to shake to confirm the agreement. "Deal?"

I took his hand and clasped it firmly in my own, trying to ignore how soft his skin was. "Deal."

The two of us worked pretty well together for the rest of the day with only minimal bickering every once in a while, stopping after a few insults back and forth before it could escalate. It wasn't perfect between us, obviously. Lance took every chance he got to mutter, "Rookie" under his breath, even if all I did was stumble a little bit when I was taking some dirty plates back to Hunk to wash. It was getting obnoxious by the end of the day, but I let it slide for the most part, not wanting to get in trouble with Shiro.

The last customers had finally left and I had collapsed into a booth, exhausted, when Lance walked over to me, a tired but happy smile on his face. He held out a wet rag to me and gestured for me to follow. He silently started wiping down tables and I assumed I was to do the same. "Why are you so happy?" I asked him as we put the chairs upside down on top of the tables. "This is going to take forever and I'm already about to fall asleep standing up."

"Just wait 'til you wait on tables regularly, rookie," Lance teased, a smirk on his face. "I went easy on you today and took most of them when you were supposed to."

"Shut up," I grumbled, moving to the next table with a sigh. "But seriously, why?"

"Because I know today that we made people happy. They enjoyed their time here, or at least they didn't hate it, and that's all I want to do with my life," Lance told me, pausing to look me in the eyes. There was a sincerity in his words I hadn't heard before, with all the bickering and joking around he had done today. It was strange, but also nice, in a way. "I just want to make people happy."

"I can understand that," I murmured, looking away from his blue eyes. "So you guys did good today?"

"No, Keith, we did good today." I turned to see Allura behind me, smiling. "You're one of us now," she said with a smile. "And no matter how hard you try to hide away from us, you can't change that."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally get a chapter from our blue boy's perspective! Lance and the others discuss the latest addition to their team and we get a hint of Langst, since what's a Voltron fanfic without a bit of angst in it? Lance also starts to figure out his new coworker, wondering if there is more to him than glares and sharp words.

Lance POV

Keith left with Shiro almost immediately after we finished cleaning off the tables, stopping only to give a few quick goodbyes to everyone. He didn't even ask for anyone's numbers, though I guess he could've gotten them from Shiro. Did he even have a phone?

"So, what do you think of our newest addition to the staff?" Allura asked me as I gathered my things in the back room, checking my phone for new Snapchats from my friends still in school (ha, I graduated early thanks to night classes).

"Eh," I said absentmindedly, taking a quick selfie and sending it to someone. "He's okay. Could be a little friendlier, in my opinion."

"Just because you love everyone you meet doesn't mean everyone else does," Pidge commented as she walked in, grabbing her things from the corner. "I like him, I think he'll warm up to us eventually and open up. We need to really know each other to be able to be a team and work efficiently, and I think he'll be a good addition once we get to know him."

"Exactly," Coran said as he came in to join us. "He's got potential, he just needs to warm up to everyone a little."

"He also needs to learn how to take an order for once instead of fighting me on everything I say," I grumbled, getting another selfie and sending it out.

"You're both at fault there, Lance," Allura told me. "You're not his boss, you can't be ordering him around. You're here to help him learn, not yell at him and scold him the entire day. No one likes that, and it won't help our team form a good bond with him if we make him feel like he's new and below us. I will admit, however, that he does need to follow the plan more and not go off and do his own thing. I know Hunk needs help sometimes, but Keith can't do everything. He needs to stick to his job."

"Oh, he was," I said, rolling my eyes. "He saw Shiro looking tired once and took every single order in his area for an hour after that. That's why he was so exhausted when we finally closed."

"Well, at least he's a hard worker," Allura sighed. "He just needs to learn his place and when to let others take some of his work sometimes."

"Keep in mind, this is still his first day," Pidge piped up. "He doesn't know everything yet and he hasn't gotten comfortable in this environment yet. That will also help him become part of the team better once he gets more experienced, and once he works with us better, he'll become better at his job as well."

"You're right," Allura sighed. "I can't expect too much of him just yet. He's still new and I can't push him."

"You're under a lot of pressure, princess," Coran told her soothingly, pulling a hand on her shoulder. "Don't stress over it. Keith's a fast learner, and I'm sure he'll catch on to how everything works by the end of the week."

"Thank you, Coran," Allura smiled.

"Well, I gotta head out," I said awkwardly, watching the exchange with a weird twist in my stomach. I didn't have someone I was close with like that... sure, I'd gone to school with Hunk and Pidge and they were my best friends, but they had more free time than me when customers were just eating and they were able to talk techy stuff, which was the thing that brought them together, while I was still working. I hated to say I felt left out when they did that, it seemed childish. Yet I felt alone all the same. Keith had Shiro, Pidge and Hunk had each other, and Allura had Coran. And me? I was the seventh wheel, sitting alone on my phone all the time, sending selfies to people who would eventually stop replying, who would eventually leave me. It happened all the time, I was used to it at this point, but it still hurt every time someone else faded from my life. I really didn't want this group to be like everything else, but just from looking at the pairs standing around me, I knew my history would repeat again."See you tomorrow, Lance!" Allura called as I pushed the door open.

"Don't be late again!" Pidge yelled.

"I know, I know!" I said over my shoulder. "Bye!"

I wasn't looking where I was going as I headed out into the parking lot towards my car, dark thoughts on my mind as I stared at my feet outlined against the pavement. Suddenly something slammed into my shoulder going past me and I fell to the ground, hard. "Hey, what the hell, man?!" I shouted angrily, squinting against the setting sun to see who had knocked me over.

"Sorry, Lance," someone panted. My vision cleared as a silhouette blocked out the sun, a hand outstretched to help me up. I felt Keith's hand in mine for the second time that day and allowed him to help me, letting go the second I was stable even though I wanted to hold on for hours. I needed something to ground me, and Keith did that just in time - quite literally. "I'm so sorry," Keith said again, breathless still as he gestured at a crumbled scrap of black cloth clutched in his opposite hand. "I just forgot to return my apron before I left and-"

"Calm down, dude," I laughed. I hated to admit it, but his rambling was pretty cute. "You're fine. You could've just brought it back tomorrow, you know."

"I just didn't know if someone needed it or-"

"Why would anyone need it? We're the only ones that use them," I pointed out.

Keith opened his mouth to reply and froze, realizing how stupid his stressing had been. "Oops."

"You're fine, man," I said casually. "I've done it dozens of times. Allura doesn't mind."

"I wasn't worried about Allura," Keith said softly, an uncharacteristic shyness coming over him. "I thought you were going to yell at me."

"Listen, I'm sorry I was too hard on you today," I said, wincing inwardly. Gosh I hated admitting I was wrong, especially to someone like Keith. "I was just in a bad mood today. I'll try to be more considerate tomorrow." Wow. Even to me that sounded scripted.

"You didn't have to take it out on me," Keith said sharply, his normal standoffish manner returning instantly. "You can just try to pretend."

"Trust me, I was with the customers," I retorted. "You can't keep up a mask all the time, you know."

"Really? Because some people can," he responded. Something about his words and his expression, that flash of something in his eyes when he said it told me that he was constantly wearing a mask, hiding his emotions behind what I assumed to be his glares and general unfriendliness. Was there more to this kid than anger?

Pushing these thoughts away, I quickly came up with a reply so the pause wasn't too awkward. I'd already been embarrassed enough today, I didn't need to seem weak in front of Keith, too. "I already told you I'm sorry, now just leave it, okay?"

"Sorry, but I'm not someone for you to take your emotions out on, okay?" he growled, his eyes sparking with anger. Something about the way he so quickly took offense to this told me he had been used before, and I felt a pang of sympathy for a moment. "I can stand up for myself, I'm not going to get pushed around."

"I'll take that into consideration," I said sarcastically, starting to walk away. I just wanted to get home and get ready for bed before Hunk got back. He had a date with his girlfriend Shay tonight and as much as I loved the guy, I wasn't in the mood to help him stress over which shade of yellow tie to wear. "See you tomorrow."

"Whatever," Keith muttered under his breath, walking back towards the restaurant. "Maybe it's not too late to get moved to the kitchen or something..."

"You got hired to be a waiter, you're going to be a waiter," I called over my shoulder, not bothering to turn around. "So give up any hope of getting away from me right now, unless you want to quit."

"I don't quit!" he said. "So you better give up any hope of getting rid of me!"

"I lost any of that hope when you came back," I murmured to myself, approaching my car.

"What was that?" Keith yelled sharply.

"Nothing you need to know, rookie," I replied, getting into the front seat and slamming the door. I turned the key in the ignition as I watched Keith turn around, shoulders hunched as he marched back inside the restaurant. I almost waited for him to come back, just to see if he'd calmed down any, but my phone buzzing snapped me out of it. Pressing the button to put it speaker, I pulled out of my parking spot and started driving home.

"Hey Lance."

"What's up, Hunk?"

"You know, the sky, planes... ALSO I HAVE A DATE TONIGHT AND I'M FREAKING OUT!!!"

"Chillax, man, you're going to be fine," I smiled, falling into my usual routine. As much as Hunk's stressing out was kind of annoying, it was also normal, and it eased my worries as I switched over to autopilot. "You've been going out with Shay for months now, and anyone can see that you really care about her and she cares just as much about you. You know the second you get there you'll calm down and you can tell her all about your job. You haven't seen her since you got it, right?"

"No, she's been up in the north studying these awesome crystals she's told me about over video chat and-"

"Hunk, buddy, you can tell me all about it later," I interrupted. "I'm just kinda busy right now trying not to get hit." Traffic had gotten heavier while the call continued, and it seemed like every stupid driver in the world was on the road today. "But you know that once you get there she'll tell you all about her rocks-"

"They're crystals!"

"Fine, crystals- and you'll tell her all about your awesome cooking job and now you graduated already and you guys will be just like you usually are. So try to stop stressing about it and just think about how happy you're going to be later, okay?"

"Okay," Hunk breathed. "I'm pulling out of the parking lot now, I should be home about five minutes after you. Could you go ahead and starting pulling out my ties? I'm gonna need help again."

I sighed, a small smile crossing my face nevertheless. "Sure, buddy. Anything."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith goes to his second day of work at the restaurant, learning of something Pidge has planned for the weekend for the team. He's not too excited for it, to put it simply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is pretty short and low-quality, I was on a long trip and half-asleep when I wrote this. Hopefully the next chapters will be better, since this one sort of just sets up what's happening in the future. Enjoy!

Keith POV

I didn't know what to expect when I walked into work the next morning. Was Lance going to let up on me like he'd said? Or was he going to continue being a royal a-

"Keith!"

I looked up from the ground to see Pidge ahead of me, getting ready in the employee room.

"Hey, Pidge," I said quietly, walking over and putting on my apron, trying not to think about the chaotic exchange with Lance yesterday afternoon.

"How are you feeling on your second day?" she asked me, smiling brightly.

"Eh," I shrugged. "I'd rather be asleep."

"Trust me, after working here long enough, it gets exciting," Pidge told me. "Besides, we were thinking about adding a show element to the restaurant."

"Please no fire, Pidge. You know what happened when you went overboard on your presentation at the Garrison that one time."

I turned to see Lance come in the door, Starbucks in hand and a knowing smile on his face. He was completely different than yesterday, it seemed. Then his gaze fell upon me and that smile faded. I sighed. Of course.

"You ready for another day? It's Friday so it's going to be even busier than usual this evening," he said sharply to me, finishing his coffee and tossing it into the trash bin before tying his apron with a speed I knew could only come from practice.

"As expected," I replied coolly, filling my pockets with straws and my notepad.

"Okay, you guys, just get over yourselves," Pidge groaned. "I'm not going to put with you guys fighting for the rest of... however long this team is together, and I'm sure Allura isn't going to, either. So both of you get it together and stop acting like you want to punch each other every five seconds of the day."

"We're not-" I began.

"Yeah, you kind of are," Shiro said, coming in from the main dining area, where he'd been talking to Allura and Coran as they set up for the day. "Pidge is right. You guys need to learn how to calm down and sort out your differences."

I huffed at my brother and crossed my arms, leaning against the wall and resting one foot behind me to steady myself. Shiro shot me a sharp look before turning to put on his apron as ell.

"Anyway, what I was trying to say before Mr. Drama King came in and caused all this," Pidge began.

"Hey!" Lance shouted angrily. "Keith was fighting, too! It's not my fault!"

"You-" I started, pushing off the wall and moving towards him.

"See what I'm talking about?!" Pidge shouted, pushing Lance and me apart as we glared fiercely at each other. "Now shut up and listen to me! What I was trying to say was that I'm having a party tomorrow, so Keith can get to know the team better and we can all just hang out. Then we all can work together smoothly, like Allura was talking about yesterday."

Wait... a party?

"Yeah, she just got me caught up on your conversation yesterday and I think that's a great idea," Shiro smiled, his eyes lighting up. "We all need to know each other well before we can truly be a team, and once we are, then we can work faster and even have a little bit of fun while we work."

No, not Shiro too...

"And, if we do add that show element Pidge was talking about," Lance grinned, "Then we can do tricks together and it'll work a lot better!"

A show? With Lance? Yikes.

"See?!" Pidge smiled, heading towards the door with Lance close behind. "So you'll all be there?"

"Sure, just text me the details and I'll send them to Keith. We shouldn't have any conflicts," Shiro said.

"Wait, what?" I hissed at my brother. "I'm sorry, but you know how I am with parties! There's no way I can handle that, especially with someone that I hate!"

"Oh, c'mon it's Cute Boy!" Shiro whispered back, an eager expression on his face. "It'll be fun!"

That's when I realized that he was actually really excited for this party. I don't know why, maybe it had something to do with Allura being there, but he was truly excited about this, and I didn't want to ruin that for him. Figuring I owed him on for getting me this job in the first place, I sighed and muttered, "I guess I'll come!"

"Thank you," Shiro smiled at me. "I'm sure you'll have a good time."

The rest of the day was packed, to the point where I often had to go serve tables on my own without Lance's help. I was in a silent panic every time that happened, but Shiro assured me afterwards each time that I had done great. Lance ignored me as much as he could, but since he was my mentor, that was kind of difficult for him.

"You can fit one more plate if you overlap the edges," he told me as I loaded plates onto my arm to carry out to customers.

"I wish we would invest in those trays or something," I muttered, pushing the plates closer together and doing as he suggested. Huh, he was right. I could fit another one.

"Allura ordered some a few days ago, they'll come in next week," Lance replied as he gathered some plates as well. "Just hang in there until then."

"Thanks," I said quietly, getting the final plate in my hand. "Well, I gotta go. Be right back."

"Don't fall!" Lance called after me in a monotone voice as I hurried off.

After giving the customers their food and feeling like my arm was going to fall off, I checked in on the other tables and returned to the kitchen, finding Lance and Hunk in a debate while Lance washed dishes and Hunk searched for ingredients.

"Where is my cream sauce?!" he shouted angrily as I walked, interrupting Lance. "I know I had another jar in here!"

"Right here, buddy," I said, picking it up off the counter near the wall and holding it out. "You're in a rush and not thinking straight. Try to calm down a little so you don't mess up any of the food, okay?"

"Oh, thank you Keith," Hunk sighed, taking the jar from me. "I'm so stressed today, this has got to be the most customers we've ever had..."

"No, one of those first days was even worse," Lance commented, finishing the last plate and turning to us. "Matt met a whole group of college students who had been up all night and sent them here," he told me. "Matt is Pidge's older brother by the way, and our sign-spinner out near the main road."

I nodded, pulling up a mental image of him from a few days ago and seeing the similarities between him and his sister. "I've seen him."

"Yeah, apparently he can do cool tricks and it gets people to stop long enough to read it and see what all the buzz is about," Hunk said, stirring something in a pot on the stove as he spoke.

"He is pretty talented," I agreed. "Since he's part of the staff, is he coming to the party tomorrow?"

"Yeah, he and Pidge share an apartment," Lance explained to me, actually looking pretty happy for once. "I've had a couple conversations with him, he's a cool guy."

"Are you coming tomorrow?" Hunk asked me. "I know Shiro's going, so I'm guessing you are, too."

"Sadly yes, he's dragging me to it," I sighed, leaning against the doorway with one shoulder and crossing my arms. "Everyone's so excited about it, but I just don't do well in large groups of people."

"It won't be too big of a group," Lance pointed out, his eyes still on me for some reason. "It's just everyone you've already met; well, plus Matt."

"Exactly," Hunk said. "And we're all your friends, so you don't have to worry about having to meet a ton of new people or something."

"Still, I just like being more one-on-one with people, or just in small groups like this," I murmured, gesturing to the three of us. Hunk paused a minute, studying me, and I realized that he didn't understand. He just didn't know what it was like to barely be able to breathe when too many people were around, or to have to force myself to stop shaking while I was taking people's orders because I was so anxious. He just didn't get it, and I assumed Lance didn't either, from his silence.

"Well, you can be by yourself for most of the night or leave early if you want to," Hunk said. "We won't be mad at you."

"Thanks," I said quietly, letting my gaze drop to the ground. They just didn't get it. "Well, I'm just gonna go check on my tables... see if they need anything."

"I'll come with you, I'm done with the dishes anyway," Lance said quickly, walking over. I turned around, surprised, and he smirked, pushing my shoulder lightly and saying, "You still need supervision, rookie. It's only your second day, after all." I scowled at him and headed out to the main part of the restaurant, wishing that for a second, Lance would actually care about me as a person and not just another person in his way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance decide on a truce and to try to work together in the future, and Pidge and Hunk confront Keith about what happened between them. Keith and Lance have a bonding moment when Keith lets some things about his insecurities slip out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is super long, almost 1,000 words longer than usual. Hopefully future chapters will be around this long now, since we're going to have more bonding moments and stuff, but who knows? Enjoy and please comment suggestions or just tell me what you think! I love getting feedback!

Keith POV

The next day went around the same, customers blurring together as the hours passed. My mind was elsewhere anyway, focused on the party that night. I kept telling myself that I knew these people, that they wouldn't judge me too much if something happened, that it would all be okay, but I knew it was a lie. These people knew nothing about me, they just happened to be my coworkers. I didn't know them at all, and if I did something wrong, who knows what they would think of me?

I was thinking about this as I was clearing tables at the end of the day, when the last customers were finishing their meals. My hands start shaking uncontrollably and I felt the dessert plate in my hand slip out of my grasp. It fell to the ground and shattered with a crash, the sound echoing in the large, open restaurant. I swore quietly as I felt everyone's heads whirl around to fix their eyes on me as I stared at the broken plate at my feet. Great. Now Lance was going to yell at me and say "I told you so" and Shiro was going to be disappointed in me and Hunk and Pidge were going to judge me and Allura was probably going to fire me and-

"Keith! Are you okay?" Lance asked, running over with a broom and dustpan to clean it up. "What happened? Did any of it cut you?"

"What? No," I said quietly, surprised. His attitude toward me completely changed since yesterday morning, when he kept glaring at me. This morning he was helping Hunk most of the time so I barely saw him, but when he did talk to me, he still seemed kind of annoyed with me, though I didn't know why. Yet here he was now, already having cleaned up the shattered plate and now gathering the dishes from the table while I stared at him in shock.

"Don't worry about it too much, I broke sooo many dishes in my first few weeks here," Lance assured me, turning and flashing me a smile as he picked up the stack of plates. "Heck, I still drop something in the kitchen every once in a while. It's nothing to worry about, Allura knows that these plates break easily and she can always get more without taking too much out of the budget."

"Thank you," I murmured, grabbing the broom and dustpan as we headed back to the kitchen together. "I thought you'd be mad at me."

"Hey, it happens to the best of us, aka me," Lance smirked, making me roll my eyes. He started cleaning the dishes while I put away the broom and dumped the broken bits of the plate into the trashcan. "And don't worry about me yelling at you all the time. Like I said before, I was in a bad mood that first day and I regret taking my anger out on you. You don't deserve that and I should've controlled myself better."

I stared at him, sure that what I was hearing was fake. This guy hated me... right? Then why was he basically apologizing to me? And what did he mean by "you don't deserve that"? Did he actually think I was worth something, that I wasn't just another person to scold?

Before I could let my thoughts get too far ahead of me, I said softly, "I shouldn't have yelled at you that day either, and I'm sorry, I've been a pain to teach. I wasn't exactly being respectful, like I should have been."

"And I didn't really go easy on you, either," Lance laughed. He turned around to look at me and I felt myself walking closer to him, sensing something was about to happen. "I shouldn't have been such a jerk to you. I'm sorry, Keith."

"Me too," I said softly, standing beside him. "Maybe from here we can move forward as mature adults and work together without fighting."

Lance grinned. "Oh, we'll still fight, that's inevitable. We're too different to be perfect like that. But yeah, I hope we can move forward from this."

He offered a soapy hand to shake, dripping bubbles onto my shoes. I yelled out in surprise and he laughed, his hand still out. Glaring at him, but without too much venom and anger, I took his hand, shaking it firmly. Once again I realized just how soft his hands were, yet tough enough that they showed he'd worked hard for a long time. I let go quickly, probably too soon, and grabbed a towel to wipe the suds off my hand.

"I could've gone without the water getting all over me, y'know," I told him, wiping the top of my shoe.

"I know," Lance said cheerfully. "I just had to get one last annoying thing in before we became 'best friends' or whatever."

"I didn't say 'best friends'," I pointed out. "N-not that I'm against it, but-"

Lance laughed and I stopped talking immediately, taking it in. He laughed a lot, since he was a naturally happy person, or so it seemed. He always joked around and teased everyone, so it was weird to see him without a smile on his face and a laugh on his lips. However, something about this laugh was different. It wasn't for show. It was just for me and me alone, telling me to relax. There was something behind it that I couldn't decode, but it made my words fade from my mind, made the tension leave my body. Something about that laugh being just for me, to calm me, helped me relax more than anything had in a long time.

"Calm down, dude, I was joking," Lance said, not realizing what he'd done to me. "I'd like to be friends with you, too. Now come help with these dishes, okay? It can be like a bonding exercise or something."

"Sorry, no can do," I smirked, coming back to my senses. Lance turned around as I headed out the door, waving to him. "Still got more tables to clear and bring back to you."

"But-" he started.

"You said fighting was inevitable," I grinned. "I guess teasing counts as that, too." Then I ducked out the door before he could protest, hearing his muffled cursing through the door as I walked away, laughing quietly to myself.

"Sounds like you two are finally going to be functional together."

I looked up to see Hunk and Pidge standing there, both smirking. The glint in Pidge's eye made me wary, so I just said, "Uh... yeah. We agreed to stop fighting and try to work together. Y'know, for the team and everything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have tables to clear..."

"Oh, Shiro's got it," Hunk said, gesturing behind me. I turned to see my brother carrying a huge stack of dishes back to Lance, only one group of customers still sitting at their table. It looked like they were about ready to leave, though.

"We just wanted to ask you a few questions," Pidge told me, grabbing my arm and pulling me around the corner to the hallway where the bathrooms and such were.

"Um, what about?" I said, tapping my fingers against my leg anxiously.

"What kind of feelings do you have for Lance?" Pidge demanded, always the straightforward.

"Uhh, what?"

"Lance. Do you have feelings for him?"

"I've known the guy for like three days, I can barely form an opinion on him, much less have feelings for him," I told her uneasily.

"But do you find him attractive?" Hunk asked. "Do you want him to kiss you? Would you like to date him?"

"W-what kind of questions are these?" I stammered. "I barely know him, and I barely know you guys! Why are you so interested in this? And no, Hunk, no I do not!"

"That's a lie," Pidge stated matter-of-factly. "You looked away from me when you said that."

"Because I was addressing Hunk so I turned to him," I countered. "Now, answer my question. Why do you care if I like Lance or not? To be clear, I do not. I hate the guy, obviously."

"Yeah, you're not exactly what I'd called subtle," Hunk laughed.

"We believe that you would be good together," Pidge told me.

"Together as in... dating?" I said doubtfully. She nodded. "He's straight, obviously. And no, we hate each other, you can see that as well as anyone. We would just fight."

"So you admit you've thought about it?" Pidge asked.

"And no, Lance isn't straight whatsoever," Hunk laughed. "He's as bi as they get."

"Hmm... bi, huh?" I murmured to myself.

"What was that?" Pidge pounced eagerly.

"Nothing," I said quickly. "And no, I haven't thought about dating him. I only just did because you brought it up. And yes, I may be gay, but that doesn't mean I want to date every man I see. No offence, Hunk."

"None taken," he said. "But I think Lance-"

"Enough about Lance!" I finally yelled, something in me snapping. I was feeling cornered and trapped and they kept asking me about stuff I was clearly uncomfortable about. My anxiety couldn't take it. "I don't like him! That's it! Now, I have a shift to finish!"

"Will you be there tonight?" Hunk called as I walked away, clearly ignoring the way I had my back turned to them and the vibe I was giving off that said DO NOT TALK TO ME.

"I'm not sure," I growled, turning the corner before they can say anything else.

As I walked over to the now-vacated table where the last customers had been sitting, I reviewed all the stuff I had let slip. I had accidentally come out to Pidge and Hunk when Shiro was the only one I had been out to for the longest time, and it had been super obvious to anyone with half a brain that I was attracted to Lance. I didn't know why or how, since he hated me and he annoyed the hell out of me, but here we were.

Pushing the thought of him out of my mind, I started stacking the dishes the customers had left behind, thinking of what I would say to Lance when I went in to join him with the washing. Pidge and Hunk were probably going to tell him that I liked him, which I wasn't positive of just yet, and then whatever fragile peace treaty between us would crumble instantly. I wanted to be friends with Lance, I really did, and I didn't want to risk something stupid coming between us before any sort of bond could have the chance to begin to form.

Sighing, I carried the dishes into the kitchen and saw Shiro standing there, laughing at something Lance had said. I felt a weird prickle of something dark in my gut and pushed it away, forcing my facial features to go back to their usual expressionless look.

"Hey, Keith!" my brother called out as I entered, an eager smile on his face. "I was just keeping Lance company. But since you're here now, I'll go wipe down tables if you'll help with the washing. I can't exactly do that since..." he waved his prosthetic arm. "Y'know."

"Okay," I muttered, setting the dishes in the sink and rolling up my sleeves. "See you in a little bit."

"Is something wrong?" he asked me, putting his human hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged it off, pushing past him to grab a towel and start drying the dishes Lance had finished. "Nothing's wrong, Shiro."

"Fine," he sighed. "But we're going to talk before we go to the party, okay?"

"I'm not going," I told him angrily.

"Keith-"

"Shiro," I growled, glaring at the dish in my hands. "I am not. Going. That's final."

I heard him sigh again and knew he was trying to sound calm. "We'll talk later." I didn't move as he pushed open the door and left the room. For a long time the only sound was Lance washing the dishes, for once not saying anything.

Then of course he had to break the silence.

"Why do you hate him so much?" he asked me. "Your brother is like, my hero! He's a natural at this stuff and he never loses his patience with anyone, even if they're being all emo like you!"

"I'm not emo," I muttered, starting to work again. Why did Pidge and Hunk think I liked this guy?

"Yeah, you kinda are," Lance laughed quietly. "Anyway, what's your deal? Why are you always trying to pick a fight with him? With everyone, honestly?"

"Shiro and I don't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things, the main thing being my life," I said softly, moving on to the next plate. "He wants me to get out and do things, to meet people, to be happy and have lots of friends." I glared at the ground as I muttered, "He wants me to be like him, but I'm not."

There was a pause. Lance didn't say anything, he just listened to me speak. He waited for me to continue.

"I'm not Shiro, and I never will be," I murmured, not thinking about what I was saying. It just poured out of me, not under my control anymore. "I'm not naturally friendly and good with people. Heck, I can barely get out of bed in the morning, I can barely talk to him. He's a pain, but he's really the only safe thing I have, the only thing I can always rely on to be there for me, no matter what. He pushes me out there, tries to make me trust other people, and yet he holds me back at the same time. I want to fight when people mess with him about his arm. I want to hurt them, show them that he is more than they will ever be and he still has a long way to go. I want to show them that people love him, no matter what happened to him in his past." Quietly, mostly to myself, I said, "Maybe that's what I want people to do for me. To love me for me, not the things I've been through."

There was silence again and I sensed Lance wiping his hands on a towel. I looked up as he put his hands on my shoulders, looking me directly in the eyes. "Listen, Keith," he told me, this strange look in his eyes. It was something like this look Shiro have me every once in a while, but it was different somehow, in a way I couldn't place. "I've only known you for a few days, but I can tell that you're not Shiro. No one can be Shiro but him, and that's okay. No one can be Keith but Keith, either. You're your own person, and you're more than your past. Yeah, it shapes a little bit of who you are, but that's only a fraction of it. If you can let go of the bad things that have happened to you, you can finally move on and figure out who you really are." I found myself getting lost in his blue eyes while he talked to me, that weird look he was giving me making me fall deeper and deeper into them. "You are loved for you, Keith, more than you know."

"Thank you, Lance," I whispered. Without thinking about it, I let myself fall into him, wrapping my arms around him. "Thank you."

His breath hitched for a moment before he leaned into the hug and returned it, pulling me close to him. "No problem, buddy."

After a minute or so, we finally pulled away, both blushing slightly and laughing shyly. "We should probably get back to work," I said, a smile playing at the corners of my mouth. Lance grinned at me, that look still in his eyes.

"Yeah, probably."

Neither of us moved for a minute, too lost in the other's eyes. Then I coughed awkwardly and we both turned back to our work, laughing a little. No one said anything, but it wasn't a bad silence, like it had been before whenever we were left alone together. It wasn't a comfortable quiet, either, at least not yet. But anything that wasn't a bad silence was good enough for me, and I found myself smiling as we worked together, finally at peace for once.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith goes to the party at Pidge's house and starts panicking. Someone unexpected helps him out of the situation and he is finally able to find peace, if only for a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for anxiety and suicidal thoughts. It's not a full-on panic attack, but almost one. And the suicidal thoughts aren't like "I want to kill myself", more like "no one would notice if I disappeared". See the end notes if you want to skip this chapter because of that.

Keith POV

"Why did I let you talk me into this," I groaned as Shiro parked on the side of the road near Pidge and Matt's apartment.

"Because you love me," Shiro smirked, opening his door and getting out. "Besides, this'll be fun. You'll get to see how everyone acts outside of work and we'll all get to bond so we work better as a team."

"Shiro, we all work at a restaurant, we're not football players," I said as I got out and fell into step beside him.

"Well, if we do end up adding this show element Pidge was talking about, then we might have to be more like a team than you think," he told him as we started up the stairs to the fifth floor, where Pidge had said she lived. "And you need to learn to get close to people. I know you have a bad... history with people you trust, but I promise, no one here would ever do that to you." He stopped in front of the door to Pidge's apartment and put his hand on my shoulder, looking at me intensely as he said, "None of us are going anywhere, okay?"

"Okay," I murmured.

Shiro knocked and Matt opened the door.

"Hey, guys! You must be Keith and Shiro," he said energetically. "Pidge has told me all about you, so I'm really glad we can finally meet in person!"

"Me too," Shiro smiled. "Matt, right?"

"Yeah," Pidge's brother said, shaking his human hand. If he noticed Shiro's prosthetic, he was respectful enough to not mention it. 

"Nice to meet you," I said politely, shaking his hand as well. Matt nodded at me, clearly seeing how nervous I was, but once again not saying anything about it.

"Come on in, Lance and Hunk are already here," he told us, opening the door wider. "Any idea when Allura and Coran should be arriving?" he asked as we walked into the apartment.

"It's not like them to be late, so I don't know," Shiro said, taking in the sight before us. Pidge is blasting music from her phone while she and Hunk are laughing at something Lance said. All of them have a can of something in their hand and are already looking really out of it. I sighed as we walked over to them. It was going to be a long night, I could tell.

"Keith! Shiro!" Hunk yelled as we approached, running over to hug each of us. I winced as he wrapped his arms around me, feeling something in my chest pop as he lifted me off the ground.

"Oof," I grunted. "Thanks buddy, I really appreciate it, but you're kinda killing me here," I said, awkwardly patting his shoulder.

"Sorry," he laughed, setting me down gently. "I-"

"Hunk gets suuuuuuuper touchy when he's drunk," Lance said. "If he gets beyond that, he cries for a while before passing out. Matt... I haven't seen him drunk before, so that'll be interesting. Pidge gets really quiet and just ends up falling asleep in the corner."

"What do you do?" I asked, taking the can of beer Matt was offering me.

"Uh-"

"He talks a lot," Pidge said, smirking at him while he gave her the stink eye. "Like more than usual."

"Is that even possible?" I replied, grinning as Lance now turned to glare at me. "I mean, he never shuts up normally, so does he like, not breathe or something?"

"What's Keith like when he's drunk?" Lance asked Shiro loudly. "I mean, he's got to do something super embarrassing. He's always so quiet if he's not fighting with someone, so he's got to go crazy when he's drunk."

"Umm," my brother said, looking at me uncertainly. "I've actually never seen Keith when he's drunk before, so I'm not sure."

"This'll be interesting," Pidge smirked at me, her eyes flashing. "The first time anyone's seen Keith drunk, huh? It's a special occasion! I'd say cheers to that, right Hunk?"

My eyes widened as I realized what they were thinking. They were going to try to get me to make a move on Lance while I was drunk. Well, that wasn't about to happen. Not tonight.

"Yeah," Hunk grinned, tapping his can against Pidge's. "This is going to be quite interesting."

Everyone's eyes stayed on me for a long time, waiting to see what I would do. Even once Allura and Coran arrived and conversations get louder and louder, I noticed that Lance kept watching me, but not in the judging way that Pidge and Hunk kept looking at me. He kept giving me that strange look from before, almost a... fond look on his face. It was weird coming from him, especially towards me. I told myself it was the alcohol and kept talking to Allura and Coran about the restaurant.

"It's only been open for a few months?" I said in surprise. "It's so popular already!"

"Hunk is an amazing chef," Allura replied proudly. "And my father did a good job with the designs and spreading the word long before it opened."

"Sadly, he passed before he could ever see it in business," Coran sighed. "It was originally going to be named 'Altea', after a kingdom he'd imagined as a little boy and based the restaurant's design off of, but Allura felt it would be better to name it after him in a tribute to his hard work."

"I love that," I said, allowing a small smile as I looked over at Allura, who was looking down into her drink with a sad expression.

"Not a day goes by where I don't miss my father," she told me, looking up to meet my gaze. "So I try every day to do what I think he would've believed to be right. I can only hope I'm doing what's best for the restaurant and for everyone on the team."

"I never knew your father, but I'm sure he would be proud of what you've done," I said earnestly,. I made sure to choose my words carefully so they would mean something and wouldn't sound repetitive, like the things she had probably heard a million times from people who didn't care at all. "I've only seen you in action for three or four days, but you've been an amazing manager and I've overheard customers talking about how friendly you are. You've done a good job keeping the place running, and I know it's only going to get better from here."

She smiled at me gently, tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Keith," she said, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and giving me a side hug. "That means a lot."

I nodded awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. "Well, it-it's true," I finally stuttered out, forcing a small smile to come to my face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find my brother... always disappearing, y'know?" I grabbed my drink and quickly slid out of there before Allura or Coran could reply, finding my heart rate rising by the second. The music seemed too loud, the laughter filling the apartment too sharp, the small living room too crowded... it was all too much. I started looking around desperately, trying to find a place to get out. Was there a guest room...? No, Pidge had said something earlier about how she and Matt turned the extra room into a lab, and I doubted she would like me being there, no matter the reason. I had a feeling people were going to need the bathroom at some point, so it wasn't like I could hide in there, and the bedrooms were out of the question. I knew as well as anyone how annoying it was for people to be in your private space, even if you had nothing to hide, so I didn't dare even looking at the hallway containing the rooms.

My heart thudding in my chest, I felt sweat pricking at my scalp as I looked around, desperate for even a table to hide under at this point. I walked over to the kitchen section, thinking I could possibly crawl into an empty cabinet, but Pidge and Hunk were engaged in a serious conversation about the sink pipes, metal parts scattered all over the floor around them. Choosing not to even attempt to understand them, I headed towards the door, wondering if I could somehow slip out unnoticed.

Luck was not on my side, however. Lance yelled my name loudly, breaking away from his conversation with Matt and Shiro to walk over and throw his arm across my shoulder. "Keith, my favorite coworker!" he shouted, the smell of alcohol on his breath.

"Uh, Lance-" I started.

"Shut up, dude, it's all for show," he hissed. "I know what you're going through. Lemme show you somewhere..."

"Um, I'm fine, I swear," I lied, ducking out from under his arm and backing away from his incredulous look. But even I had to admit, the music seemed to be getting louder by the minute, and Shiro's piercing gaze was setting me more on edge than I would've liked.

"Keith-"

"Okay, show me," I said, turning to him as I felt my breathing quicken. I was starting to panic, anyone could tell, but Lance seemed to be able to tell more than the others, and to understand what was happening better than them.

He grinned at me and grabbed my hand, yelling, "Dudeee, I need to show you my cat! He's so cuteeeee, but he lives in this stupid alley and Pidge tells me to leave him alone..." He led me into the hallway, opening the window at the end and climbing out onto the fire escape. I stumbled out after him, our hands still linked in the small space. "Just a little further," he murmured, closing the window carefully before starting up the stairs, pulling me along behind him.

The tiny metal stairway creaked under our weight, and I asked him, "Are you sure this thing can hold us?"

"Oh, this thing can hold Kaltenecker, it's so strong," he laughed. I paused, wanting to ask who this Kaltenecker was, but Lance was already moving on to something else, rambling about how it just made a lot of noise no matter how much he tried to get it to be quiet.

"H-how do you know about this place?" I asked him when he paused to take a breath.

"I live in this same apartment complex, just a floor above the Holts," he explained. "Of course, these things are all the exact same, so I assumed they would have a way out just like I did. Seems I was right." He paused at the next landing, crouching and smiling at the window beside it. "There's the apartment I share with Hunk," he said, pointing at it with his free hand. I found myself not looking at where he was pointing, but at Lance himself. Were his legs always that nice? And did his eyes always shine like that in the light? I tried to focus on what he was saying and not on the heat of his hand in mine. "So my room's the one closest to us, Hunk's is in the one beside it. The guest room is just storage, but Hunk wants to clean it up so people can stay over more and they don't have to sleep on the couch," he laughed, standing and starting up the stairs again. "It's not much farther now, only a few more levels. Three, maybe? These stairs are just a pain."

"Yeah," I chuckled softly, warmth blooming in my chest at this new side of Lance. I was used to the loud and obnoxious Work Lance, or the friendly and patient Waiter Lance, not this quirky and almost childish Not Lance. He started running up the stairs, laughing - no, giggling - as he did so.

"C'mon this place has the best view!" he said, tightening his grip on my hand as I started to slip. I felt my lips slide into a grin as I sped up to follow him, the two of us breaking onto the roof together soon after.

"Whoa," I murmured as he led me to the side, where a brick barrier stood up to our chests. I leaned forward on it, one arm hanging over the edge while the other stayed held in Lance's grasp as we looked out at the view together. "I never fully registered how big the city is."

The office buildings around us glittered in the setting sunlight, their glass sides reflecting the yellow light in a way I could almost describe as heavenly. If you looked at the right one in the right way, a rainbow glinted off of it. The buildings went on almost as far as I could see, lines of cars on the road reflecting sunlight in the same way. The gradient of colors of the sunset were reflected across the glass side of one of the office buildings beside us, and I took time to stare at the lines of pinks and oranges and yellows shifting towards purple and darker blue as more time passed.

"Feeling better?" Lance whispered after a minute.

I nodded, turning to look at him. "Thanks," I said awkwardly, my words suddenly failing me. "For uh... getting me away and everything."

"Hey, no problem, man," he smiled at me. "I'm gonna head back then, if you don't mind." I felt something in my chest ache at those words, and I had to fight to keep my expression emotionless. "I'll figure out something to tell them, so don't stress it. I'm great at coming up with shit on the spot."

I smiled at that, letting his hand drop from mine. "Okay, I'll be fine up here on my own. Just let me know when the party starts to die down so I can find Shiro, alright?"

He nodded, giving me the usual grin. "Roger that." And with that, he headed back down the fire escape, leaving me to stare at the view by myself and ponder over the way that his smile just didn't reach his eyes.

\- - -

I don't know how much time passed, maybe half an hour, while I stood there and watched the reflection of the sunset in the office building, peace finally settling into me as I allowed myself to relax. I felt the tension leave my body as a light wind swept across the roof, ruffling my hair and keeping me cool. It was nice, and I could easily see why Lance loved this place so much.

As the sun set below the horizon and the stars began to appear, I laid down on my back near the edge, looking up into the sky. I couldn't see many stars because of the city's light pollution, but just the sight of the sky and how huge it was made my problems and internal struggles seem so small, like they didn't even matter. It was almost reassuring in a way. Like the world would go on even if I couldn't, and I wouldn't drag others down with me if I suddenly vanished. I wouldn't hurt others, I couldn't, because of how small I was compared to everything else.

These thoughts were reassuring, but they also made me feel desperate as well, like any good thing I happened to do wouldn't matter, either, like I didn't matter at all and no one would notice if I disappeared, like no one would care. It made me feel like-

"Keeeeith."

"Lance?" my head snapped up and I jerked upright to see my friend stumbling onto the roof, clearly drunk. I was on my feet in an instant, running over to hold him upright. "You idiot," I sighed, letting a bit of fondness slip into my voice. "It's a miracle you're not dead."

"Your eyes are really pretty," he murmured, looking at my face. I felt my cheek go red and struggled to control my breathing. It means nothing, Keith, he's just drunk... He reached out a hand and gently took a lock of my hair in his hand. "Your hair is really soft," he said. "Will you let me braid it sometime?"

"Uhh..."

"I braided my sister's hair all the time, I can easily do yours," he murmured, leaning into me more. "Pidge won't let me braid hers, and I'm not even going to try with Allura..."

I chuckled. "That's probably smart, knowing how scary she can be."

"Pleaseeee," he said, starting to fall forward.

I grabbed him before he could hit the ground, deciding that he needed to get to a couch or something so he could sleep all of this mess off. Sighing, I picked him up and slung him over my shoulder, ignoring his muffled profanities as I started towards the fire escape. Now how was this going to work... 

"Keeeeith, you're really strong," Lance said. "I didn't realize that. You're really nice, too. I think I like you." My breath hitched in my throat and I almost dropped him off the fire escape, quickly wrapping my arms tighter around his legs to keep him safe. "You're not actually all that bad of a person, y'know... yeah, I think I do like you."

"That... that's great, Lance, I can kind of stand you now, too," I told him, continuing down the stairs, almost tripping multiple times in my hurry to get away from Lance and his sudden openness. Curse these things for being so small!

I finally managed to get down to Pidge's apartment, thankfully without dropping Lance, and I found that he'd left the window open in his drunken state. "Thank God, I was wondering if we were about to be locked out here all night," I laughed softly, setting Lance down so I could crawl in before carefully pulling him in after me. By now he was practically asleep in my arms and my shoulder was too tired to hold him anymore, so I just carried him bridal-style over to the living room, where I found the others were passed out as well. Shiro and Allura were cuddled into each other on the couch, Coran was asleep on Allura's shoulder, and Pidge, Matt, and Hunk were gathered in a pile in front of them. I laughed quietly to myself as I set Lance down on a sleeping bag near Pidge. I had no clue how it had gotten there or whose it was, but for now, it was Lance's.

I gently pulled a blanket over Lance and stood to go get Shiro, deciding that I would drive us home before anyone could wake up. No one would mind, right? Since we were all so small...

"Keeeeith..."

"What, Lance?" I sighed, turning around. His eyes were only half-open and his arms were outstretched to me. 

"Stayyyyy."

"I have to go, Lance, I can't stay with you," I whispered, not wanting to wake the others, though Lance was loud enough to wake the whole apartment building. "I have to get Shiro and go home, I can't stay here anymore."

"Keeeeeith, stay. Pleaseeeeee." Something about the desperation in his drunken tone hit me, and I felt my resolve crumble.

"If it'll get you to be quiet, fine," I mumbled, walking over and laying beside him. "Now go to sleep, you're gonna have one hell of a headache in the morning."

Lance wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to his side, and I inhaled sharply. "Thank you," he murmured, drifting off to sleep before I could even try to think of a reply.

I forced myself to relax, struggling in the close quarters with everyone, especially Lance. Just yesterday weren't we fighting? And now were we are, cuddling while everyone is passed out at Pidge's house. Not exactly my ideal weekend.

However, the more I focused on Lance's heavy breathing next to me, the more I felt the tension dissipate. Before I could stop myself, before I could get myself out of this situation while Lance was finally asleep, I gave in to sleep, letting my thoughts fade into the background as the darkness took over my vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A summary for those who skipped this chapter because of the trigger warning:  
> Keith and Shiro go to the party and after a conversation with Allura and Coran about Alfor and how Allura is managing the restaurant, Keith starts panicking and Lance notices. Faking being overly drunk, he leads Keith up the fire escape to the roof of the apartment building, saying he lives just above Pidge and Matt and the apartments are the exact same, pointing out his room through the window. He and Keith watch the sunset together before Lance returns to the party. Keith waits until the stars come out and looks at them from the roof, thinking about how big the sky and how small he and his problems seem compared to it. He thinks about how he can't hurt anyone because he's so small compared to the sky, but maybe then that means nothing he does, even the positive things, matter. Lance finds him again, overly drunk for real this time, and Keith carries him back down the fire escape while Lance low-key flirts with him, saying his hair is soft and he likes him. The others are passed out around the couch when Keith finally gets back down, and he helps Lance get to a sleeping bag so he can sleep it off. He tries to go and get Shiro to leave, but Lance calls him back and they end up falling asleep in each other's arms.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wakes up to a surprise and a conversation with Hunk and Pidge, but his afternoon goes a lot better than he expected.

**Lance POV**

I woke up slowly, drifting off for a few seconds every time I blinked. My head ached like crazy, and my memory was still fuzzy. I finally forced myself to sit up and fully open my eyes. Yawning, I looked around me and saw Pidge and Hunk snickering quietly as they drew on Matt's face with Sharpie, while Shiro, Allura, and Coran all snored as they slept cuddled together. Wait... where was-

"Lance," a sleepy voice murmured beside me.

I looked down and saw Keith's arms wrapped around my waist, murmuring my name quietly as if he wanted me to stay. I felt panic rising inside of me as memories of last night came back to me, smacking me in the face with each second I remembered.

Leading Keith to the roof.

Getting drunk off my ass and going to find him while everyone else fell asleep.

Telling Keith I liked him while he was  _clearly_  sober.

Keith bringing me back down and putting me to bed.

Begging Keith to stay with me.

Falling asleep with Keith in my arms.

What the hell had I gotten myself into?

"Like 24 hours ago we were trying to kill each other, and now here we are," I murmured, laying back down as Keith said my name again. "What am I doing?" I tried to ignore how warm Keith was, and how nice his arms felt around me. I pretended I didn't notice how soft his hair was against my cheek, or how cute he looked when he was asleep, relaxed and not worried about getting fired or trying to win a fight against me. I tried to ignore and I pretended, but it did no good. Keith was going to be the death of me.

I awoke suddenly, not realizing I'd drifted off. Something wasn't right. I felt... cold. Empty.

I sat up quickly, too quickly, and black spots filled my vision. I waited for them to clear, and when they did, that's when I realized what was wrong. Keith was gone. I looked over at the couch and saw that Shiro was gone, too. They must have left at some point while I was asleep.

I took in the scene around me. Pidge and Hunk had moved on to drawing on Coran, and I noticed that Allura must've become one of their victims as well. I wondered if they've tried to get Keith or Shiro and woken them up, and that's why they left.

"Hey look, Lancey Lance is finally awake," Pidge teased, finishing her drawing on Coran's face. "Missing your cuddle buddy?"

"We were drunk!" I shouted, instantly clutching my head. Ouch. Too loud. "We were drunk and happened to fall asleep. Now, where did he and Shiro go?"

"They left a few minutes ago," Hunk explained, backing away from Coran as well with a satisfied smile. "We tried to draw on Shiro and he woke up. The guy does  _not_  sleep heavily, and it scared Pidge and me half to death. He saw what we did to Matt and actually took it pretty well. Got a picture for blackmail and said he would send it to us, as if we haven't already gotten tons of pictures ourselves." He laughed and put down his marker. "Then he grabbed Keith, not even bothering to wake him up, I think, and just left, saying he'd see us at work on Monday."

"Holy crow, we have work tomorrow," I groaned, sitting up better and pulling the blanket around me. "Also, why is it so cold in here?"

"Pidge always has the AC in here blasting, even in winter," Hunk said, pulling his own blanket tighter around him. I tried not to think about how easily he said that, like he'd been here tons of times when I'd only been here a couple. Had he come here without me some days? "No clue why."

"Because then I can hear my comfortable sweatshirts and sweatpants without getting overheated while I work," Pidge said. "I get overheated very fast and I sweat a lot, so I need it freezing in here so that doesn't happen. It interferes with my work a lot of the time and I can't focus if it's too hot."

"How does Matt feel about all of this?" I asked, standing and shuffling over to the kitchen, finding that Pidge already had coffee brewing. Thank God for that little coffee-addicted gremlin sometimes.

"He's hardly here, but he's super warm-blooded like me, so when he is here, he doesn't mind," Pidge explained, pulling her legs up onto the couch and sitting cross-legged. "When he's not out in the streets sign-spinning for the restaurant, he's usually at the Garrison doing research on Kerberos, which is-"

"A moon of Pluto," I finished, pouring myself a cup of coffee. "C'mon, man. It's like you don't know I'm a huge space nerd that's majoring in astronomy."

"Yeah, if you can finish those extra online classes instead of getting distracted by any cute guy or girl you happen to see," Pidge snickered as I shot her a look, my face flushing. "And yes, he's studying Kerberos. The Garrison is talking about sending a mission there, and he thinks that if he shows enough interest in it and gathers enough information for them, they'll let him go."

"What, this little scrawny stick? Going into space?" I laughed, nudging her still-sleeping brother with one foot as I sat beside her. "I don't know how excited they'll be about that."

"Eh, he makes up for his lack of strength with his smarts," my friend said, completely sure of her brother. "I'm sure they'll pick him; they're gonna need his brain if something goes wrong or anything unexpected shows up."

I took a sip of my coffee, completely forgetting that I hadn't put any sugar or milk or anything in it. The second the bitter taste hit my tongue, I spit it out, much to the amusement of Hunk and Pidge.

"How do you drink this stuff?" I asked Pidge, getting up and rushing to the fridge immediately.

"You know all the nerves in my body practically don't work because I don't sleep," Pidge shrugged, taking a sip of her own perfectly black coffee. "I'm unaffected by the bitterness, probably because of how bitter I already am."

"You heathen," I growled, pouring huge amounts of sugar into my coffee, along with basically anything sweet in my line of sight. When I finished, I took a sip and sighed. It wasn't my usual super-sweet Starbucks order, but it was enough to get me started today.

I walked back to the couch, finding Pidge and Hunk in the middle of a discussion about the latest thing Pidge was working on. It was some kind of better mechanism to track which tables were taken, which were vacant but needed cleaning, and stuff like that. She knew there were already things that existed, but they were too expensive, she claimed, and she said they weren't very good and she could make a better one. Knowing her, she probably could.

I sat there in silence for most of the conversation, waiting for the coffee to kick in as I let the scientific nonsense words wash over me. By now my headache wasn't that bad, and my memory of the night was pretty clear. At least that meant I hadn't had  _too_  much to drink...

"What?! Hey!" Pidge shouted suddenly, tumbling off the couch. "Matt, what the hell?!"

"You drew on my face, didn't you?" he yelled, pushing his sister off of his chest. "You do that every time we have a party like this and you wake up first!"

Pidge snickered. "You know it."

"Argh!" Matt growled, lunging for her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Pidge laughed. "You know I can take you in a fight any day, especially with you in the state you are."

"You're tiny, though! How do you do it?!" Matt whined. Then he caught a glimpse of Allura and Coran, and he burst out laughing. "Okay, I have to admit, that is pretty damn funny. You've gotta send me the pictures you got of them. Yes, I know you well enough to know you probably got videos of you guys drawing this on them, didn't you?"

Hunk snickered, holding up his phone. "You know it."

"Why didn't you guys get me?" I asked them, wondering if they had forgotten I was even there.

"Oh, we tried," Pidge grinned. "But the second we got even close, Keith lashed out at us in his sleep, like he knew we were there. Seemed like he was only having a nightmare, though. He was really out of it, talking in his sleep and hugging you like you were gonna disappear right there. I'm surprised it didn't wake you up."

"Wait... he was having a nightmare and you didn't help him?!" I shouted, sitting up straighter in my seat. "You know he definitely would've done something if it was you! What was he saying?"

"Something about his parents and something like 'Shiro, come back' or whatever," Hunk said, his features crumpling into an expression of concern. "I was worried about him, but Pidge thought he was gonna wake up the others, so we needed to go ahead and finish them first."

"I swear, you really are heartless," Matt said to his sister.

"He stopped after a little while!" Pidge protested. "And I panicked! I didn't really know what to do! You know that I work better with computers than people!"

The three of them moved back to talking about Pidge's invention while I sat there in silence, thinking about what Pidge had said. Keith's parents? Shiro leaving or disappearing or something? What kind of nightmare had he been having?

Suddenly my phone vibrated in the kitchen, indicating that I'd gotten a message. I jumped up and ran over to check it, the others not even noticing. I tried to ignore the pang that simple action, or rather, lack thereof, caused in my chest, but it was hard when that kind of thing happened all the time. You get used to it, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt every time.

**UNKNOWN NUMBER:**

_Hey, it's Keith. Shiro gave me your number. Said he has everyone's who works at the restaurant, just in case of emergencies or whatever. Anyway, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for last night. I got really drunk and may have done some things involving you that I don't remember. If any such thing happened that you remember, I deeply apologize. I just know that I woke up beside you this morning and you didn't seem too drunk so I hope I didn't do anything to make you uncomfortable last night. Sorry again. Just let me know if you got this, my phone is really glitchy and outdated._

I sighed as I read the message. Stupid Keith. I wasn't drunk enough to forget things, and I knew almost every word in that text was a lie. He probably just didn't want to make things awkward between us, especially with how well they'd been going lately thanks to our truce.

I started typing back quickly, deciding to just go along with it so as not to start another fight.

_Hey Keith. Yeah I got your message.  
_

_I'm sorry too. Both of us got extremely drunk so you don't need to worry about it too much. I don't remember a whole lot either, so again, no worries. Hopefully neither of us did anything too bad to scar the others for life, lol._

I paused for a second, my thumbs hovering over the screen. Then, thinking,  _why not?_  I add:

_I just wanted to ask you something, if that's okay. Pidge woke up before everyone else and said you were having a nightmare and you kept saying something about your parents and Shiro disappearing. Do you remember anything about that? And is there anything I can do to help you?_

Before I could chicken out about the last part of the message, I sent it and tucked my phone into my pocket. Taking my last sip of coffee, I set my mug in the sink and walked over to the others, who were still engaged in a heated conversation about tech. I tapped on Hunk's shoulder to get his attention briefly to tell him I was heading back to our apartment before I left, not even bothering to try to tell the others goodbye. They would just ignore me anyway and it would hurt my pride even more.

I felt my phone buzz with a message just as I unlocked the apartment door, pulling it out as I headed inside and started grabbing clothes for after my shower.

**Keith:**

_Yeah, I'm fine now. I don't remember a lot of the nightmare, but that kinda thing is a recurring dream I have almost every night. I'm sort of used to it by now. Thanks for checking in, though._

I smiled as I hurried to write a reply.

_Eh, no problem. I hope that kind of thing stops soon, though. From what Pidge said, you seemed pretty terrified.  
In other news, Pidge and Hunk drew with Sharpie on everyone's faces. They said they couldn't get Shiro, but they got Matt, Allura, and Coran good. I'll send pictures as soon as Hunk finally gets them to me._

I walked into the bathroom and got my music pulled up for during my shower, checking to read the new message Keith had sent before getting in.

_That sounds hilarious. Definitely send them. Besides that, how's your morning been?_

I replied:

_Pretty good. Forgot to add sugar to my coffee at first, but that was only a momentary setback. I'm finally back in my own apartment now and I'm getting a shower real quick. I'd be happy to continue this conversation when I'm done, however._

When I finished, I saw that Keith had answered:

_Sounds good. Let me know when you're done._

I texted him back:

_I'm done now. Ready when you are._

I had just finished getting my nightly face mask on when my phone buzzed again. I grabbed it and laughed at Keith's reply.

_Dude, you took FOREVER. And yeah, I'm good now. Shiro is on the phone with Allura (I TOLD him to call her earlier!) and it seems like he'll be busy all night so I'm free._

I shot back a reply as I laid down in my bed, a timer for my face mask already ticking.

_Oooh, Shiro and Allura? Give me all the gossip!_

The two of us ended up texting for the rest of the day, talking about the newest couple at the restaurant (okay, they weren't a couple yet, but we knew they would be soon) and eventually moving on to other topics. We ended up clicking really well, in a way that I hadn't realized we would. When we weren't arguing over the correct way to balance dishes on our arms or other stupid things, we actually got along really well.

I learned a lot about Keith that day. His favorite color is red, he drinks black coffee like Pidge and hates tea with a passion ("It's leaf water!"), and he has a motorcycle, which he offered to give me a ride on one day during break or before our shifts or something. Never having ridden on a motorcycle before, I immediately agreed.

"Who're you texting?" Hunk asked me as I sent another message to Keith. "You're really smiley."

"What? No I'm not!" I protested, trying to force my grin to go away. What could I say? Keith made me happy.

"Oooh, did you get a girl's number at work the other day?" Hunk said.

"Noooo, it's just Keith," I answered.

"Keith?!" Hunk said in surprise. "You mean like Work Keith? Keith as in, The Keith You're Mentoring Keith? Keith as in-"

"Yes,  _that_  Keith," I sighed. "I don't know, man, but once I started getting to know him, I think I really like him. He's a good guy."

"Wait, like him as in... like like him?" my friend said.

"No!" I yelled, appalled at the very thought of it. "No, he's just a friend that I happen to find very cute when he's hugging me in the middle of the night!" I paused, realizing multiple things at once. 1) Last night when I was drunk I told Keith I liked him. 2) From what I just told Hunk, it sounded like I had a crush on him. 3) Holy shit I might have a crush on him.

"Oooooh, Lance has a crush!" Hunk teased, sitting on the edge of my bed. "So... do you think you have a chance? He's gay, you know."

"He's what?!" I sputtered, dropping my phone off the bed as I tried to type a message to Keith quickly. "H-how do you know?!"

"Well..." Hunk blushed. "Pidge and I may have cornered him at work the other day..."

"What the hell, dude?!" I said. "Not cool. I should know. The number of assholes at school that harassed me..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize how uncomfortable that would make someone..."

"What's done is done," I sighed. "And now with that piece of information... I'm just as screwed as before. There's no way someone like... like  _that_  could ever want me."

"Like  _that_?" Hunk said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"He's so fucking cute!" I groaned, falling back on my bed, phone now back in my hand. "Like, how can someone be that adorable?! Or that pretty?! Like, I thought I knew pretty, and then POOF!!  _He_  shows up!"

"You're in sooooo deep," my friend laughed.

"Don't tease me," I pouted. "I'm struggling here."

"You know what?" Hunk said. "Pidge and I will watch him tomorrow at work and see what his attitude towards you is like. How about that?"

"I love you, man," I said, crawling across my bed and wrapping my arms around his shoulders. "You're the best."

"Only the best for my best friend."

"You're so cheesy," I grinned. "Now shoo, I need to get ready for bed."

"Oh, c'mon, like I haven't-"

"Nope! Get out!" I laughed. "I'll see you in the morning!"

"See you in the morning, Lance."

I sat back down to finish my text to Keith, hitting the send button before I could stop myself. I hated to friend-zone him in the marginal chance that he might have feelings for me, but if he didn't, which was more likely than not, honestly, then I didn't want to ruin the fragile friendship we had. I could always get over him... not that it would be easy... I mean, it wasn't everyday you met someone like him. But, as hard as it would be, I could probably do it if it meant I could keep being around him. He was worth breaking my heart over. He was worth breaking my heart millions of times, he was  _Keith_ , for crying out loud. Hell, I'm starting to think my heart only existed for him to break. It was only his...

 _Okay, I need to chill,_ I thought. _I mean, I've known him for what? A week? Not even. I need to calm down._

But when you're hopelessly in love with Keith Kogane, it's hard to even think about calming down.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith receives Lance's text message from the night before and attempts to deal with the aftereffects it has on him. The two also start a competition at work and attempt to deal with a large number of children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me forever to get put out, writer's block is a BIATCH. Well, as usual, comment any suggestions you have and please enjoy this chapter! A new one should be out by the end of the week, but don't rely on that by any means. Thanks for reading, you wonderful people! :)

**Keith POV**

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my alarm, as usual. I groaned and slapped at it, instead hitting my phone and flipping it onto my bed. Through blurry eyes, I could barely make out Lance's name, but that was enough to make me jump up eagerly, suddenly awake. I turned off my alarm clock and grabbed my phone, typing in my passcode with shaking hands. I hurriedly read the message he had sent last night, guessing it had arrived after I fell asleep.

**Lance**

_So I started remembering a little from last night and apparently I told you I liked you? Drunk me is wild, lol. Lemme just give you a explanation for that so you don't freak out on me (trust me, I've had plenty of people do that, I'm used to it at this point). I meant that I didn't hate you, I liked you as a person and a coworker. I may be bi (I heard about what Pidge and Hunk did and I'm guessing they told you - I deeply apologize for them, btw), but I just think of you as a friend. I hope you understand and this doesn't make things weird between us. Goodnight, see you bright and early at work tomorrow!_

I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, willing the tears that had filled my eyes to stay in my  _fucking_  eyeballs and not spill over. I knew Shiro was going to come in any minute to make sure I was awake, and I was not about to let my older brother see me crying over a fucking  _boy,_ of all things.

 _It's fine,_ I told myself.  _You'll get over him. Who said you even liked him anyway? It's not like he was the only one who noticed you were panicking the other night and got you away and looked really nice in the sunset... it's not like he's actually super dorky and soft once you get to know him... No, he's just some asshole from work who happens to be really affectionate when he's drunk. That's it._

Pushing my feelings down, I replied:

_It's fine, I understand. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I dozed off, I guess. See you in a few minutes._

Letting another deep breath out, I turned to my closet, trying to force myself to stop thinking about Lance as I got dressed. Stupid Lance with his blue eyes that seemed contain the very essence of the sky, and that smile that could light up a room and made my heart skip a beat, and his slight Spanish accent on a few words that was so stupidly adorable, and his-

"Keith?"

_Damn, I wish._

"Hey, Shiro," I said, turning to see him in the doorway as I buttoned up my shirt. "What's up?"

"You seemed awfully happy last night," he said, leaning against the doorframe as he spoke. "I didn't think you would be up this early. Who were you talking to last night? You fell asleep before I could ask."

"Cute Boy," I muttered, focusing on my reflecting in the mirror as I hardened my expression.

"Lance?" my brother said, a smirk clear in his voice. "So you do think he's cute?"

"How can I not?" I groaned, my resolve crumbling immediately. "Did you even see his smile yesterday? God, he's adorable. And now I know there's no way I have any kind of chance with him."

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked gently, his demeanor changing instantly as he sat on my bed. "How do you know for sure?"

I unlocked my phone and handed it to him, knowing my conversation with Lance was the first thing that would pop up. I heard my brother sigh deeply as he read the messages, watched him set the phone down on the bed beside him as I put on my shoes.

"What happened Saturday night?" he asked.

So I sat down beside Shiro and told him, adding my own commentary on how nice Lance looked in the sunset and how warm he felt wrapped up in my arms when we fell asleep together and mushy embarrassing stuff like that. "I just... I thought he really did like me, after how touchy he was being the other night..."

"Alcohol does do stuff to you," Shiro said, making me sigh again. "But you know what? Today at work I'll keep an eye on him and see how he's acting towards you. I'll let you know if I think that he really does like you and that text is a lie, or if he really was telling the truth. Judging from what you've told me, he does seem into you, but I can't be sure until I see for myself, okay?"

"You're the best," I murmured, hugging him quickly. "Now get out of my room, I'm awake and I'll be out for breakfast in a minute."

"Okay, little bro," Shiro grinned, ruffling my hair before heading out. "I really do hope that stupid text is a lie."

"Me too," I murmured, laying back on my back for a second and forcing my stress to dissolve into the sheets around me. "Me too."

\- - -

I walked into the restaurant with a heavy heart, trying to mentally pump myself up. If I couldn't date Lance, I could at least keep being friends with him, right? It would take some work and a  _lot_  of time, but I could get over him. Probably. I mean... I'd done it before, I could do it again. Moving helped with that a lot, but still. I would try my best.

"Keith! My man!"

I turned around from putting my apron on to see Lance in the doorway, his stupid coffee cup in his hand.

"Hey, Lance," I said, trying to make my voice stop shaking. "How's it going?"

"Relax, man," he laughed, throwing an arm across my shoulders. "We're good, it doesn't matter who we like or whatever. All that matters is that we work well together today, okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded, watching him as he finished his coffee and tossed it into the trash, tying his apron with that stupid practiced speed. "How do you do that?" I found myself asking, unable to look away.

"What?" he said, looking up from filling his pockets with straws. He seemed surprised.

"How do you do that so fast?"

"Practice," was all he said, returning his attention to the straws. "You do it enough times and you get really good at it. Of course," he smirked, looking up again, "everyone knows I'm the best here at it."

"There's the Lance we all know and love," Pidge laughed from behind me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"With all the mushiness lately, it's nice to see you back to your egotistical, obnoxious self," she grinned.

"I'm not egotistical! I just have standards!" he protested, following her out the door as she laughed.

I rolled my eyes and let out a breath, trying to get my heart rate to go down. Could Lance stop being so cute for five minutes?!

As the regular lunch crowd started coming in, Lance and I ended up being a great team. We saw when the other seemed overwhelmed and came to help, bringing out dishes or checking in on customers. 

About halfway through the rush, Lance walked over and whispered in my ear with a smirk, "Bet I can get the most tips today."

I grinned at him, letting my competitiveness take over. "Really? Because I bet I can."

Lance turned to me. "Wanna bet?"

"What do you bet?" I smirked, facing him better.

"If I win, you buy me coffee for the rest of the week," he said.

"Fine. And if I win..." I paused, trying to think of something. "You'll owe me one," I finally decided on. "You'll owe me one and I can use that however I wish."

Lance smirked again. "You're on." We shook on it and returned to our work.

Despite the anxiety that prickled in my chest constantly whenever I had to interact with customers, I forced myself to smile more and speak louder and more animatedly. I thought about channeling my inner Lance, trying to be more friendly and easygoing with all of the customers.

Strangely enough, I found that it worked. I got more tips as the day went on, and Allura even said someone had commented as they left that I had been a fantastic waiter. I was being as fake as I had ever been, honestly, smiling at rude customers when I felt like punching them, but it was worth it to see the rising number of dollar bills left behind on the tables.

"I think I'm winning," Lance said as he passed me. "That last group left me twelve."

"Well, you're be-" I stopped, realizing that saying he was better at this than me was literally admitting defeat. "You've done this for longer than I have."

"Exactly, and that's why you shouldn't challenge your superiors to a competition," he smirked, entering the kitchen and leaving me outside.

I shoved down my urge to run after him and keep arguing and instead focused on checking in on all of my tables, making sure they didn't need anything. When I was done I took orders from a new table and went to bring them to Hunk, finding that food for another one of my tables was ready. So I took them their food and took more orders and took more food out and cleared more tables and the cycle went on and on as I got more and more exhausted. The only thing keeping me cheerful with the customers was the bet with Lance. I didn't feel like spending a ton of my paycheck on his stupid morning coffee, and it would be nice to have him in debt to me. Who knew what I could do with that power?

I looked over to Lance, ready to start teasing him, but at that moment, a huge group came in, over half of it being children under ten years old. From across the restaurant the sound of desperate mothers could be heard, along with the laughter of young mischievous children. Lance turned to me and I saw a flash of panic in his eyes, but then a smirk came across his lips and I nodded. We both knew this group was going to be giving out tips like candy with that many kids to deal with, so we were going to have to be extra patient and friendly. 

The second they were all seated with a worried look from Pidge, the two of us immediately started working together to pass out menus and reassure the parents. It seemed like some kind of last-minute birthday party, judging by the sheer number of kids and how few parents were there, or maybe a daycare. But why would a daycare be here...?

Shaking my head, I tried to focus on the table and keeping my fake-as-hell smile on my face. It didn't matter why they were here, they were our customers and we had to serve them cheerfully and not only provide for their need, but try to make their day better as well. At least, that's what Allura kept telling us, and I didn't dare to question Allura. She was pretty terrifying when she wanted to be.

I found Lance engaged in a cheerful conversation with one of the mothers, a smile already spreading to her face, and turned to the kids, who were starting to throw the crayons from the kids meals at each other, yells of war echoing in the restaurant.

"Hey, guys!" I said, forcing happiness into my voice. "How are you guys doing today?"  _Shit, I just said "guys" twice... need some variety, and they're kids, too, so I need to keep it simple._

"Terrible!" one of the little girls whined.

"Oh no!" I said, making my voice a little higher and friendlier. "What's wrong?!"

"My doggie ran away this morning!" she wailed. "And no one here cares!"

"Your dog was mean, anyway!" the boy beside her yelled, because kids don't know the meaning of inside voices, or any volume other than "shouting across the battlefield", apparently. "He didn't like me!"

"He didn't like you because you hit him!" the girl yelled back.

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did! He's only a puppy, and you pet him too hard!"

"No, I didn't!" the little boy screamed, causing the parents to look down towards that end of the table.

I quickly jumped into action before they could, hoping Lance could distract them further and give them a break from these devil children.

"Hey, hey, guys!" I called over the screaming children, instantly getting their attention. "Hey, guys, don't be so loud, okay guys?" I said, my voice going up at the end like it was a question.  _Dammit I keep saying guys! GET NEW WORDS, KEITH!!_  "I'm really sorry your puppy ran away, I'm sure he'll be back by tomorrow, okay?" I said to the little girl, being sure to make eye contact. That's what Lance did, right? Then I turned to the boy beside her, saying, "And maybe you can be a little gentler with animals, how about that? I'm sure if you are really nice to the puppy, he'll like you better and you can play with him!"

"Okay!" the boy said eagerly, a smile spreading across his face.

"What's your name?" the girl asked loudly. "My name's Izzy."

"Hi, Izzy, I'm Keith," I said, feeling very awkward with all the children staring at me now. "How about all of you guys color on those menus I gave you? Those are some cool pictures, right?"

"Will you put our drawings up on the wall?" the boy beside Izzy yelled. I hesitated, taking in the expectant look in the children's eyes as they stared at me.

"Uhh... sure! We'll put them all up near the front desk so everyone can see them!" I said, faking excitement for their sake.  _Great, now I have yet another favor to ask of Allura..._

"Yay!" a few of them cheered.

"Now I'm going to go talk to your parents, but make those pictures extra nice for me, okay?" I said, starting to walk away. "And if you need more crayons, just yell my name, alright?"

"Alright!" Izzy said, already hunched over her menu and scribbling away.

I checked on all of my other tables and a few of Lance's as well before darting into the kitchen to pick up food that was ready and warn Hunk of the giant group outside. He groaned, saying, "Yayyyy, even more chicken tenders today! C'mon, kids, have some degree of variety! Order some pasta for once!" I laughed and headed back out, dropping off the orders at their correct tables before heading back to the group, seeing Lance still talking with the parents. He seemed to have relaxed them, judging by the smiles on all of their faces as they laugh at something he's said. 

_He really has a way with people, huh?_

I looked across the restaurant to where Shiro stood at the far end, looking very uncomfortable as a brother and sister chattered to him about something. I couldn't help but laugh as he saw me and gave me a pleading look, desperate to get away. As much as people jokingly called him a dad, he was  _awful_  with kids, never knowing just how to act with them. Babies were even worse. I smothered another laugh at the memory of him with his cousin's newborn a few years ago... now  _that_ was one sight for the photo albums.

"Keith!" one of the children screeched. "I need a yellow crayon for this hippo and Caleb won't share!"

Internally groaning, I turned and plastered on a fake smile, hurrying over to try and convince whoever Caleb was to give the stupid crayon to this kid before I exploded, also praying Pidge saw my need for more crayons and brought some more over.

_Please, just let this end._


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith deal with the huge group of customers and a few of the adults tease Lance (all in good fun) about his coworker that he may or may not be completely and hopelessly in love with, much to the other's amusement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy about the news about Shiro and Adam!  
> I would change the story so Adam shows up, but Shiro's feelings for Allura have already been established here. I might include a mention of him in here, but I'm not sure. Thoughts?

**Lance POV**

Okay, so Keith was really cute when he was talking to those kids. Big deal.

And I really obviously started staring at him as he helped them with their coloring, really smoothly getting their orders as he went. And my face got super red and I started getting really smiley as I did so. Again, big deal.

And I was able to distinguish his fake smile from the real one that came across his face when one of the little girls showed him her picture with the biggest grin I'd ever seen on a kid. And I felt my heart melt and it was super obvious. Again, big deal!!

But it was a big deal.

The moms totally noticed and started teasing me about it, now that I was less of their waiter and more of their friend. Curse my friendliness!

"You like him, don't you?" one of them said, grinning as she watched me.

"N-no!" I protested, feeling my face go red.

"What did I just say, then?" another said, leaning forward on her hands as she smirked.

"I... I don't know," I admitted. "I'm sorry, I just got distracted and-"

"Bullshit," one of them laughed. "You totally like him!"

"I-" I began, looking up to see Keith writing down the last kid's order. He smiled at the kid and patted his head before standing and looking over at me, nodding. I could tell from the look on his face that I needed to start moving it along, though. "What would you lovely ladies like to drink today?" I said abruptly, opening my notepad.

They all sighed collectively. "Fine," one said, smirking as she pretended to look disappointed. "We'll order, but then you need to spill, okay?!"

I paused, weighing my options. I really needed to check on my other tables... "Sure," I sighed, faking defeat. "Now, what can I get you guys?"

I finally escaped back to the kitchen, desperate to get the drinks and get back to my other customers. "Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit  _shit_!" I muttered as I ran inside.

"Calm down, dude," Keith said, grinning. "While you were charming up the ladies for tips over there, I handled your other tables. Most of them are gone now, thanks to the noise from that big group."

"Oh, thank you," I gasped, running over and hugging him. "Thank you so much, man, you're a life saver."

He laughed quietly, hesitantly hugging me back. "No problem. Besides, I got the tips they left, so it looks like  _I'm_  winning now."

I pulled back immediately, staring at him in shock. "Betrayal!" I shouted dramatically, starting to fall backwards. "I can't handle this information! Hunk, catch me!"

"No fainting today, Lance," Shiro said from behind me, pushing me upright with his human arm. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have two very needy children out there who want to talk to me about their cats, so I need to get this food and get back out there before those poor parents go crazy."

Keith snickered and I looked at him questioningly as Shiro passed him, ruffling his hair as he went. "Hey!"

"See you around, kid whisperer," his brother said he left, smirking at him as Keith glared.

"Hey, why didn't I think of that?!" I grinned.

"But that name is thought of as a good thing," Hunk pointed out. "And you like to tease Keith rather than compliment him. Also, I thought you were the kid whisperer."

"No, he's the people in general whisperer," Keith said. "And speaking of kids, I'd better get back out there before those kids break something. Get back out here fast, okay Lance?"

"Yeah, be right there!" I called, starting to fill up drink glasses. "Try to keep them all from killing each other, okay?"

"Got it!"

"How are you, man?" Hunk asked me once Keith left.

"Aghhhhhhhh," I groaned, slamming my head repeatedly against the wall near the drink machine.

"Same."

"The moms out at that table are set on believing I like Keith and want to hear all about it," I sighed, grabbing a tray (yes, Allura finally invested in trays over the weekend) and placing each drink on it as I finished filling it.

"I thought-"

"Don't," I muttered, hitting my head against the wall once more for good measure. "I know."

"Is there anything I can do?" Hunk asked, always the sweetheart.

"Just get their food out as fast as you possibly can, once I get their orders," I sighed. "And keep me from putting a hole through this wall with how much I keep hitting my head."

"Got it," he said, coming over and quickly putting his arm between my head and the wall as I continued to attempt to knock some sense into myself. I kept going, only running into his arm, though.

"Thank you," I said as I kept hitting my head against his arm.

"Anytime, buddy," Hunk said, grabbing my head with his free hand and forcibly turning me back to the drink machine. "Now, remember. You have a bet to win."

I grinned, the fog in my head clearing. "Right." I finished the drinks as Hunk returned to his station and grabbed the tray, calling one last word of thanks as I practically ran out the door.

I returned to the table with my usual smile, trying to ignore the churning in my stomach as I passed out drinks to the women, their smirks doing nothing to settle my nerves. "Have you decided what you'll be having tonight or do you need a little more time?" I asked politely.

"I think we're ready," one of them said. "But I think it'll be nice if you stick around for a while after you take our orders over."

"I'll... I'll have to check if Keith can cover for me," I said, my head spinning as I tried to figure out a way out of this. By now, almost every other guest had left, not wanting to put up with the massive amount of noise coming from the table I stood at. I looked over at Shiro and saw him sighing with relief as the family with those two kids gave him the check, exhausted smiles on the faces of the parents. Wow, even they were leaving.

"I'll see what I can do," I told them finally. "Now, if you're ready, I'll be happy to take your orders."

I definitely lost some of my charm as I struggled to keep from letting anything out just while I took their orders. The ones who were done kept whispering back and forth and taking glances over at Keith, who the one little girl had dragged over to color with the rest of the children. I was fighting looking over myself, and almost envied how openly they watched him.

When I finally escaped to take the orders in to Hunk, I crouched beside Keith and whispered, "I think I'm really hitting it off with those ladies, they want to keep talking to me during my shift. Can you watch my tables? I think they'll pay more than all of them combined, honestly," letting a smirk play across my lips and a flirty tone sneak into my voice as I looked at him, trying to ignore how close our faces were.

Keith just stared at me for a moment, his brain seemed to short-circuit, I guessed from being around so many children for so long. Though honestly, with the way he seemed to think of me, I was about the same as a child to him, so why act any different?

"Uh, this group is the only one here right now, at least that either of us are covering," he finally choked out. "Shiro has a few others but now it's about to get really slow for the afternoon so you should be fine."

"Thanks, my man," I said, grinning at him as I stood up. "Time to get ready for all those coffees you're about to owe me!"

"Like he-" Keith paused, realizing there were children surrounding him. "Like  _heck_  you're going to win this bet," he said, glaring at me while I laughed at his alternate profanity.

"See you around, coffee boy," I smirked again, heading back to the kitchen to give the orders to Hunk.

"Text me when anything's ready, okay?" I asked him. "I have it on vibrate so I'll feel it and be able to escape for a few minutes."

"Will do," he nodded, saluting me. "Good luck, brave soldier."

I saluted him in return. "Thank you, chef."

It actually wasn't all that bad. It was basically the same thing I did to Hunk every time he got back from seeing Shay, and honestly, I deserved this. I was pretty harsh on him sometimes, and I kinda needed a taste of my own medicine.

I didn't let too much out. I just explained he was occasionally attractive and I got drunk and too touchy and basically ultimate-friend-zone-d him, at which they all groaned and told me that was a bad move, especially when it had been going so well, as if I hadn't thought the same thing a million times since I sent that stupid text. They did give me some good advice, though. They encouraged me to try to get to know him better in person rather than over text, and if he seemed interested in me, to just go for it and ask him out.

I was just about to start into a long ramble about my self-doubts when I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it out to see:

**Hunk, my brother, the love of my life, my best friend, my soulmate, my everything:**

_Order up, buddy! Hope you're still alive enough to read this!_

I grinned as I put my phone away, telling the women, "Sorry, ladies, but looks like your food's ready. I'll be right back. Try not to miss me too much."

As I passed Keith, who had really warmed up to the kids and was now smiling genuinely at them, I grabbed him by the arm and started walking away, saying, "C'mon, order up, buddy."

"You don't have to drag me in there, you could just tell me," he said, pulling his arm out of my grasp and moving to walk alongside me. "Settle down, I'm bringing your food, okay?" he told the kids as they started to protest.

"They really love you, huh?" I said as we entered the kitchen.

"I don't get it!" he said as we grabbed the trays Hunk had loaded up for us. "I have never been good with kids, even when I  _was_  a kid! I was that one that beat up anyone to looked at him wrong, so of course I didn't have any friends and was always the outcast. But even now, I  _hate_  kids, just as much as I hated them then! So why do these kids love me?"

"They probably think you're cool," I said as we started setting dishes in front of kids, Keith wordlessly directing me on which ones to put in front of which child. Wow, it was nice that he remembered every kid's order, considering the sheer number of them there. "I mean, you're the guy with the long hair. Kids think guys with long hair are cool, right? I don't agree because it's a  _mullet_ -" he shot me a look here, "-but I can see how little kids would think that's neat. And you're nice and patient with them too and treat them like people, so that makes sense as well. And-"

"Are you just going to list all the reasons kids - or anyone, really - could like me?" Keith asked. I looked up then and realized that his face was almost as red as his tie, and felt my face flush immediately.

"Uhh... if you want me to?"

He laughed. "Go ahead. My face can't get much redder."

"Challenge accepted!" I laughed, giving the last kid his food and starting back to the kitchen to grab the parents' food. "Now, you make them feel valid and can easily negotiate with them and settle your arguments and no matter what you say, you're actually really good with kids. Also..."

I went on as we served the adults and took the trays back, pausing in the kitchen to finish my long list.

"And there are still more. Just give me time, and I'll text them to you at random points throughout our lives. Like in the middle of the night, in the middle of your wedding, whenever," I grinned.

"In the middle of my wedding?" he laughed. "Oh, c'mon, it's not like you won't be invited!"

"It's not like you'll get married!" Shiro teased as he passed, ruffling his hair. "Now what's this talk I hear of inviting Lance to your wedding? Did you finally meet someone?" he asked, a strange glint in his eye that Keith clearly didn't like.

"Those kids probably need me right now," Keith said, darting towards the door. "See ya, Shiro!"

"I'll ask you more about this later!" he called after him as he left. "You can't escape me!" He laughed, turning back to me. "He's so fun to tease."

"You got that right," I smirked.

"Ah, I see you've made that discovery as well," Shiro grinned. "Now, what kind of things have you been teasing him about?"

"Oh, anything and everything I can," I smiled, trying to ignore the weird skip of surprise in my heart as I noticed something strange about the look Shiro was giving me. He was watching me closely, analyzing my movement as I talked about  Keith... had Keith asked him to watch me to see if I had feelings for him?

 _No, no, that's crazy, chill out with your wishful thinking,_ I told myself.  _Focus on getting back out there and winning the bet._

"Well, if you'll excuse me," I said suddenly, "I had some customers I was talking to earlier, and I'm sure they would like to continue our conversation. I'll catch up with you later, okay Shiro?"

"Yeah, that's fine," he answered, polite as always. "I'm going to go check on Allura up front," he said, mostly to himself. I noticed his cheeks flushing a little pink as he said Allura's name and smirked to myself. So Keith was right after all...

The two of us headed back out into the main area of the restaurant, breaking off as he walked towards the front desk and I went back to the customers, the moms immediately grinning when they saw me.

"How's your food so far?" I said, grabbing a chair from a nearby table and sitting at the end of theirs, predicting (accurately) that this would be a long conversation. "Is there anything I can get you guys?"

"Well, there's one thing..." one of the moms said. "You could give us more information about this crush you have on Keith."

"Oh c'mon, already?!" I whined playfully, trying to pretend my cheeks weren't on fire and a smile wasn't spreading across my face just at the sound of his name.

"You promised," someone else teased, pointing at me with her fork before eating the pasta on it.

"Fine," I sighed. "What do you guys want to know?"

"Everything."

"Well then sit back and prepare, ladies, because I've got quite a lot to tell you."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance clean up after the restaurant finally closes and start talking.

**Keith POV**

It seemed to take forever, but the big group finally left. Putting up with those kids was definitely worth it when I saw the tip the parents left Lance and me, both of us staring at the numbers in shock.

"All... all of them have gotta be crazy rich," I sputtered, struggling to form words in my surprise.

"No shit," Lance said, rubbing his eyes as if he was seeing things.

"Well, I think this competition just got a lot more fierce," I smirked at him, starting to clear the dirty dishes. "And I'm definitely mentally tougher than you, being able to keep going after handling those kids while you flirted with their mothers," I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the way Lance was not-so-subtly staring at me as I bent over the table to grab a plate on the other side.

"I... I wasn't... I... what?"

"Real smooth," I grinned, ruffling his hair as I walked past him to grab another stack of dishes. "Tell me your comeback in another five years when you finally come up with one, okay?"

"I... yeah. Sounds good."

I laughed quietly and headed to the kitchen, setting the dishes in the sink and promising an exhausted-looking Hunk that I would be back soon to help wash them all. It was the slow time of the day, anyway. Hardly anyone came in for another couple of hours now.

Lance and I continued to send light jabs about the competition back and forth while we cleared the table and washed the dishes, even chasing each other around the empty restaurant while we wiped down tables after he threw his rag at me. That ended with Shiro yelling at us and Lance freezing in the middle of the aisle, worried I guess, and me slamming into him, sending us flying. I fell on top of him on the ground and we both just started laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. My brother then came over again to tell us to get back to work, but I noticed a weird look on his face when he saw me helping Lance up, which of course made my face get really red. That made Lance ask what was wrong, which just made me more flustered, so I just ended up making this really weird noise, which made both of us start laughing again.

Shiro seemed to give up on us then and finished our cleaning himself while the two of us sat down together in a booth (next to each other, practically on top of each other) and I'm not gonna lie, I fell asleep on his shoulder. I was exhausted from a night of insane happiness and a roller coaster of emotions that morning, not to mention nearly two hours of dealing with unruly children. I deserved that break.

I woke to Lance shaking my shoulder, a strange look on his face as he looked at me. I noticed his face was really red, but in my tired state, I couldn't make anything of it.

"Yeah?" I murmured, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"People are here," Lance told me, a soft tone to his voice. "Only one family, and Shiro handled it, but I just wanted to let you know. So we could continue the competition fairly, y'know?" He grinned.

"Lance McClain? Playing fair? Since when?" I smiled at him. He pouted at me and I laughed, lightly pushing his face backwards.

"Hey!" he yelled, pushing my hand back and shoving me in the chest.

"Shit!" I shouted, tumbling into the aisle. I looked up, ready to bring Lance down with me, but there was an almost terrified look in his eyes. He popped his head over the top of the booth and looked quickly around the restaurant, and that's when I understand. Crap

Shiro, bless his soul, had seated the guests as far away from us as he possibly could, so it didn't seem like they heard me, no matter how loud I had been. I knew he was still gonna scold me for it later, though.

"I can't believe you!" I hissed at him.

"I-I'm so sorry!" he sputtered, holding up his hands as if in defense. Wait... did he really think I was pissed? I was just joking around!

"Get over here," I demanded, trying to use this to my advantage.

"Are you going to punch me?" he asked, looking almost scared of me. Was Lance McClain...  _scared_  of me?

Pushing that awful thought away, I grabbed him by his tie and pulled him onto the floor with me, bursting into laughter as he cried out in surprise. I rolled him over onto his back and put one arm on his other side so I was hovering over him.

"Are you actually scared of me?" I whispered, allowing my features to show how the worry I actually felt. "Did you really think I was going to hurt you?"

"I mean..." Lance drifted off, his face turning red as he stared at something right below my eyes. Was he... was he staring at my lips?

"Lance."

"You're kind of intimidating, what can I say?" he laughed awkwardly. "And Shiro's told stories..."

"I'm not the way I used to be, I promise," I told him. "And besides, I would never, ever hurt you, okay?" I paused, trying to make sure he was truly listening to me. "Lance? Don't you know that? I would never hurt you, even if my life depended on it."

"Really?" he said, his voice almost a breathless whisper.

"Yeah," I replied, letting my gaze slide down to his lips as well. It would be so simple for me to just lean down and kiss him right now...

"Alright, if you two are done being gay over here..."

Lance sat up so quickly I barely avoided our heads colliding as we both whirled around to face Pidge.

"I- We weren't- We, uh..."

Pidge smirked at us. "Save it. Hunk wants to see you, Lance, and your brother wanted to talk to you, Keith. They didn't want to interrupt you once they saw on the security cameras what was happening, but I just couldn't pass up this opportunity to embarrass you guys. Anyway, duty calls! See you around!"

And with that simple speech finished, she turned around and headed back towards the front desk, leaving Lance and me staring at each awkwardly with blushing faces and hesitant words.

"I... I'll just... Hunk-" he started.

"Yeah, Shiro... bye."

The two of us scrambled to our feet and practically ran away from each at that point, each trying to forget that tension we had just experienced yet at the same time longing to return to it.

\--

The restaurant closed late that night, thanks to another large group coming in really late and staying far past closing time. I could tell Shiro was exhausted by that time, so I told him to head home without me and I would walk back on my own once I finished cleaning up. I could tell that he wanted to refuse, but one look from Allura and he broke, untying his apron immediately and heading out quietly.

Allura and Coran left pretty soon after him once I insisted that I could stay behind and clean on my own, Pidge and Hunk heading out when Lance told them the same thing. That left the two of us alone to clean the entire restaurant while we were both already close to deliriousness with exhaustion.

"Well... this'll be interesting," I sighed, heading into the kitchen to start on the huge sinkful of dishes the last customers had generated.

"And why is that?" Lance asked with a smirk, following me. "I'll dry," he said quietly, almost as an afterthought, as I started cleaning.

"Just-" I began, struggling to form complete thoughts as my coworker rolled up his sleeves and loosened his tie a bit. "Y'know... earlier..."

"Well, we both confirmed earlier that we don't have any feelings like that for each other, so it shouldn't get to us, right?" Lance replied, almost too quickly.

"Y-yeah. Yeah." I tried to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest as I handed him a clean bowl. It was stupid. I knew he didn't like me, he'd said it a million times by now, it seemed. And I hated that I liked him, I really did, but I couldn't help it. I can't choose who I fall in love with any more than the next person, but why did it have to be the main person on the team that I had started off the wrong way with? Why did it have to be the only guy who seemed to hate me one day and the next I woke up in his arms? Why did fate have to be so cruel to the both of us?

"You okay, man?" he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Uh, yeah," I said, shaking my head to chase away the last remaining ideas that clung on tight. "I'm fine. Just tired, that's all."

"You must be exhausted then, because you've been cleaning that same bowl for almost five minutes now," Lance said, a tiny smile crossing his face.

I groaned, passing it to him. "I'm honestly just slowing you down at this point, I'm sorry," I told him. "With me here, it's just going to be later and later when we finally leave."

"No, stay here," he insisted. "Even if you don't do a lot, I'd like someone to keep me company. You're not  _terrible_  company, after all."

I smiled at that, handing him another bowl. "Thanks. You're not too bad yourself."

"I'm touched," Lance said sarcastically. "I feel like I've just been told I'm the greatest man to ever set foot on this Earth. Your words are so meaningful and emotional, Keith, it's like I'm seeing a whole new side of you."

I laughed quietly, not having enough energy to do much more than giggle slightly. "God, I'm so tired," I sighed, leaning heavily against the sink and starting on another dish. "Sorry, man."

"It's okay," Lance said. There was that weird soft tone to his voice again so I turned to look at him, seeing that foreign look in his eyes. "You can go start wiping down tables if you want."

"Nah, it's fine," I replied, the words coming out before I could think it through. "I want to keep helping you in here."

"I'm honored," Lance said, his usual teasing manner returning. "The Great Keith whatever-your-last-name-is wants to spend time with me."

"Shut up," I laughed, splashing him.

"Hey!" he shouted, returning the favor. I kept laughing, flinging a bowl-ful of water back at him. "Oh, c'mon!" he yelled, grabbing a glass from the sink and rinsing it out before filling it with water to dump on my head.

This went on for quite some time before the two of us collapsed against the sink, laughing so hard we thought our lungs would burst. "So," I gasped out, breathless, "who ended up winning the competition?"

"I saw we wait to see until Saturday and make it a week-long trial," Lance grinned at me, his bright blue eyes never leaving my face.

"Fine by me, because then it gives me more time to kick your ass," I smirked, getting to my feet and holding out a hand to him. He took it and I pulled him up, turning back to continue working on the dishes. "Okay," I sighed, starting to scrub another plate. "Let's try to get these done before midnight now."

"Let's  _try_ ," Lance chuckled. "I don't think it'll happen, though. It's already almost eleven thirty."

"Be  _positive_!" I said sarcastically, handing him the plate. "Honestly, we might as well just spend the night here instead of trying to make the trip back and forth. I'll get hit by a car trying to walk home in the state I'm in."

"I'll give you a ride," Lance said easily. "You'll have to give me directions, but I can drive you home."

"Thanks," I sighed, handing him another dish. "You're the best."

"You know it!" he grinned, making me roll my eyes.

We worked in a comfortable silence for a while until the dishes were finally done. Then we went back out into the restaurant and starting wiping down tables and putting up the chairs. We each worked at separate tables, but even from a few feet away, I noticed Lance humming after a few minutes. It was a song I hadn't heard before, yet one that he seemed to know by heart, like he heard it every day of his life.

I guess he forgot I was there because then he starting singing the song out loud, in some language I didn't know. It sounded like Spanish, but since when did Lance know Spanish? Since when could he sing? Because I must say,  _damn_  he could sing. I really wanted to just get the guy a guitar and see what he could do, after seeing just how beautiful his voice was without any accompaniment.

I stopped my work and just watched him for a while, listening to him sing as he worked, even adding in a few dance moves and such while he went around the tables. It was like the guy was a Disney prince or something, the way he did everything so flawlessly and smoothly.

The moment ended, however, when he looked up and saw me staring at him, a look of awe on my face. He stopped singing instantly and froze mid-spin, just looking at me awkwardly as his face turned red. "I... I, uh..."

"What song was that?" I asked quietly, walking over to him. "How do you know it?"

"My abuela would always sing that to me every night when I was little," he explained, looking down at the ground. "I haven't seen her in a while and I just got that stuck in my head earlier, so..." He laughed quietly, pulling out a chair from a table and sitting down. "You probably don't care about all of that anyway. I'll be quiet now."

"No, no, no!" I protested, sitting beside him immediately. "Tell me all about your family. I want to hear about them."

"Really?" Lance said, looking over at me with shining eyes. "You actually want to know about them?" I nodded and a smile lit up his face. "Well, to start off, there's my sister, Veronica, and my brothers, Marco and Luis..."


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith learn more about each other and their families as they talk while cleaning up the restaurant after hours.

Lance POV

I told Keith everything about my family, going off on tangents about weird things a few of my siblings had done to our relatives, or about some of the best food one of my aunts made.

"You've gotta come the next time we have a big family reunion," I told him. "They'll love you. Plus, then you can meet all of my little cousins and get to try all of the great food and-" I gasped as a thought came to me. "You can join in when we go all of our singing in the evening! My brother and I play guitar with a few of my uncles and everyone sings and it's amazing."

Keith grinned at me, that strange soft look back in his eyes. "I'd love that," he said. "Though I'll go ahead and tell you now, I'm not too great of a singer."

I waved away his concerns, grinning. "Hey, you should hear my papà sing," I laughed. "You can't be much worse than him. He does his best, though, and it's sweet to see how hard he tries for my mamà's sake." I let a small smile cross my face as I thought about how beautiful her voice sounded, and how hard it made her laugh whenever my father would try to join in. "He always makes her laugh, whether he intended to or not, and it's nice to see her relax when he's home. She's always so stressed, trying to keep up with everyone, no matter how much I insist she needs to relax..." I felt my eyebrows furrow as I thought of home, of the farm. "Most of our close family lives with us," I explained to Keith, "and we all work on the farm together, so it's weird for me to not constant be around at least five people. And with the way we're all spread out here at the restaurant... I get kinda lonely, y'know?"

"I get that," Keith said, a surprisingly soft tone in his voice. I looked up sharply, staring at him in shock. Huh. I would've thought he would make fun of me. Maybe there was more to him than I thought. "I'm always here if you need someone to talk to during the day, y'know," he added.

"Thanks," I said, smiling at him before looking down at the ground again. "I appreciate that." There was a momentary pause before I turned to him again and asked, "Now what about you? What's the deal with your family?"

"What do you mean?" he asked uneasily, looking uncomfortable.

"Like, are you guys farmers and merchants like my family? Are you guys engineers? What's your thing?" I asked, hoping I was just imagining the way his fists clenched in his lap as he stared at the tablecloth.

"Uhh... well, my family..." What was wrong with him? Was he... was he getting choked up? "They're... they're kinda..."

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," I said quickly, leaning a little bit closer. "If it makes you uncomfortable to talk about whatever happened, you don't have to. I understand."

"Do you, though?" he spat. "You have a huge, loving family, Lance. You don't know what it's like to have no one, no one at all who cares about you."

"What're you talking about?" I asked, thoroughly confused now. Hadn't Shiro mentioned his parents before? Shiro had parents who were living, so didn't that mean Keith did too?

"My mom left before I was even a year old," Keith said, glaring daggers into the tablecloth. "My dad didn't speak about her a lot, but all he told me was that it was for the best and she left us because she loved us. But if she loved us, then why-" his voice broke and I watched a tear slip down his cheek before he could swipe it away. "Why didn't she stay?"

"Maybe it was something your dad never told you before," I said carefully, handing him a tissue from the pack in my apron pocket. "Can't you ask him?"

"My dad was a firefighter," Keith growled, glaring at the table again despite the tears in his eyes. "He ran back in that building and died when I was pretty young. It's been so long I don't even remember how old I was then at this point." But I could tell from the guarded tone in his voice that he most definitely did remember. He remembered everything.

I struggled to form words, stunned into silence. "I-I'm sorry," I said finally. "I know everyone says that so much it doesn't seen sincere by now, but... I'm really sorry. You deserve a lot better than the childhood you got."

"Thank you, really," Keith said, moving to stand up. "I appreciate it, but I can't..." he took a deep breath, "I can't change what happened. It all happened a long time ago and now I just have to move on."

"How did you end up living with Shiro?" I asked suddenly, desperate to keep him here, keep him talking to me. "If you don't mind me asking," I added quickly.

"I went through a lot of foster homes," he said, returning to his seat. "None of them went too well, and I started having... behavior issues, so most of them sent me back, like I was a broken toy or something." He scowled at the table again. "Shiro visited my school when I was with this one family and he took a liking to me or something, even though I stole his car." A tiny smile crossed his face then, but it was gone in an instant. "He encouraged me to apply for this prestigious high school program called the Galaxy Garrison that would carry me through college. I got in and my foster family let Shiro's family adopt me, since they also took a liking to me, I guess. I still thought of them as Shiro's parents, though, instead of mine as well. It was weird." He shook his head. "So I went through the Garrison to the first year of college, but then Shiro got in a really bad car crash after things went south with Adam and..." he winced, swallowing hard. "That's how he lost his arm. His - our - parents died in that crash. He was in the back so his arm only had to be amputated after it got crushed in the door." Another tear slipped down his face. "I was supposed to be in that car, too, but I'd had an anxiety attack right before we left so they left me behind. Shiro wanted to stay with me, I could tell, but I insisted he go with them." He swiped at his face angrily. "It's my fault Shiro's like this now."

"You just can't get a break from stuff, can you?" I whispered, scooting a little closer to him. God, I just felt so powerless, watching him cry, hearing about all of this pain that I had never gotten even close to experiencing.

"No," he muttered. "It's like I'm cursed or something."

"Well, you can't be cursed," I said matter-of-factly.

"And how's that?" he asked, turning to look at me.

"Because you met all of us, and we care about you a lot," I told him. "You met me."

He grinned at me then, letting his head fall against my shoulder. I carefully wrapped my arm around his back, my hand resting against his waist.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break down here," he said. "We were having a good time until-"

"You're fine, Keith," I insisted. "I'm glad you opened up to me. I'm glad I know more about you. Now I know more about you so some of the stuff you do makes more sense."

"Like what?" he asked sleepily, closing his eyes.

"Like why you shut people out and have trust issues, as least as far as I can tell," I said.

"Because everyone who's loved me and I've loved has died or left me," he murmured.

"Well, none of us here are leaving you, okay?" I told him. "I'm not leaving you."

"Thank you, Lance," he said, hugging me with the arm closest to me.

"Now, hold up a minute," I said, sitting up a little straighter. "You went to the Garrison?!"

"Yeah?" he asked. "So?"

"Hunk and I went there in high school, too!" I said. "There's no way you can't remember us, right? I was like, the biggest ladies man there!"

"I thought your name was Taylor there," he muttered. "I sort of remember a few classes with you guys. Hunk threw up all the time."

I laughed. "Now that hasn't changed," I grinned. "And wait, why did you think my name was Taylor? Was it...?" A thought came to me. "Oh, right! My nickname was the Tailor! Y'know, with an i! Maybe you misheard it or something?"  
"Yeah, probably," Keith said. "Wait, does Pidge go there too?"

"Yeah, the three of us are in our senior year there right now," I explained. "We're on winter break right now, but I'm sure once it ends..."

"We'll be pretty short-staffed," he murmured. "We'll need to find some more people."

"Yeah," I sighed.

"So, what're you aiming to be?" Keith asked, moving closer to me. Our chairs were basically a bench now.

"When I first started, I wanted to be a pilot," I said, kind of embarrassed. "But now I think I want to do something else. More outside of Earth, stuff, y'know? Like discovering new planets and solar systems and galaxies and stuff."

"That sounds just like something you would do," Keith said. I struggled to read his face, wishing I could figure out what he was thinking. "I know you can do it."

"Thanks, man," I grinned. "I sure hope so." I paused again before asking, "What were you going to be?"

"Pilot, same as you," he replied. "Remember those tests we did in senior year of high school?" I nodded. "I scored high on the pilot one and since I didn't have a place to live after I graduated, I went in for another four years there. I didn't want to go back and live with Shiro's parents... I'm not sure why. Didn't want to get too close to anyone, I guess. I was scared they would disappear. Of course, Shiro always seemed like this invincible person that couldn't go anywhere, so I trusted him. He was like my rock, keeping me sane, y'know?" He laughed humorlessly. "I was wrong, obviously. The wreck happened and I almost lost him. He was in a coma for weeks and they were close to just letting him go." His body was tense under my arm. "I convinced them to let him live."

"Knowing you, that probably means you threatened them, right?" I smirked.

"Basically," Keith laughed. "I dropped out of the Garrison after that to take care of Shiro until he was back in shape. Plus, then he couldn't be a teacher there anymore, so I lost my motivation to go back. I was really lost and in a dark place. I have been ever since... until I came here, I guess. Everyone here sort of brought me out of there, even in the less than a week I've worked here."

"I'm glad you're doing better now," I told him, letting my head rest on top of his. "I'm proud of you for getting through all of that and still being a good person."

"I'm a good person?" he asked quietly. 

Gosh, that's the softest voice I've ever heard.

"Yes, of course you are," I said, hugging him tightly. "You're most definitely a good person. You're one of the best people I've ever met, actually."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that to make me feel better?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm positive," I said. "Now, one more question - you mentioned someone named Adam. Who's that?"

"Another college teacher at the Garrison with Shiro," he explained. "They... they used to date. Then he and Adam disagreed on something major, I guess, something he never told me, and they broke up. Shiro promised he would tell me what it was later, and then the crash happened and I never got to know."

"Wait, Shiro and... a- a guy? Shiro's gay?" I sputtered.

"Well, he likes Allura, y'know, so..." Keith said, his voice drifting off. "I asked him about it the other day and he told me that he doesn't really define his sexuality all that much. He doesn't want to. He said people can assign whatever labels they need to give him to make him easier to comprehend as a person in their minds, but he won't give them one, since everyone sees him differently. It was actually really interesting, the way he explained it."

"I get that," I murmured, trying to ignore how soft his hair was under my cheek.

We sat there for a little while in silence, both of us close to drifting off. The peace was interrupted by my phone dinging with a text from Hunk asking where I was. Just as I removed my arm from around Keith to reply, his phone buzzed with a call from Shiro, also asking where he was, I assumed. Once he got off the phone and I replied to Hunk, we both reluctantly got up, faces turning pink when we realized just how cold the restaurant was when we weren't curled up together, and of course dark shades of red when we remembered just how close together we had been.

"We... we should probably hurry and finish up, huh?" Keith managed to get out.

"Yeah..." I nodded absentmindedly. Had his lips always looked this kissable? "Yeah..."

The two of us stared at each for a few seconds before we both stepped back, laughing awkwardly, and kept working. We didn't exchange any more words while we finished the last of the tables, but it was a comfortable silence. I left a smile cross my face as I wiped down my final table, knowing Keith was only a few feet away from me, and we weren't rivals or enemies anymore. Now we were... whatever we were. I guess you could say we were friends, but it felt like more than that, no matter what my stupid text had said. I still regretted sending that damn thing. It had screwed everything up.

When I finished putting the chairs up on my table, I walked over to Keith and helped him do the same. That was the last table, so we headed to the back room together and took off our aprons for the day.

"I'm so tired," I whined, resting my head against the wall. "I could fall asleep right here."

"Well, you're my ride home, so please don't," Keith laughed. "Now c'mon, let's get moving for Shiro kills me."

"It's almost midnight, let me sleep," I kept on. My dramatics made Keith laugh, so I decided to mess around a little more.

"Yeah, and if I'm not home by midnight, he's gonna freak out! I bet Hunk is gonna do the same to you! C'mon now, let's go!"

"But-"

"I will literally drag your lazy ass out to your car and drive you home before walking home myself," Keith threatened. "Now get over here."

"Fine," I sighed, heading over and falling into step beside him as he walked out. Dammit. I'd wanted him to laugh, not go into Shiro mode. "But this car is my baby, so I'm still driving."

"Really? In the exhausted state you're in?" Keith asked, trying to smother a yawn.

"You're no better," I pointed out. "And besides, I know exactly how she works, and I'm not about to let some new guy come over and suddenly start driving her."

"Your car is a female?"

"What, is Shiro's a male?" I shot back.

"He... he didn't say."

"Well ask him when you get home," I smirked, getting into the driver's side and gesturing for him to get in on the other side. "Now hurry up, we have to get to your place in ten minutes or your brother will have my hide."

"Now that's something a farmboy would say," Keith laughed, getting in. "I couldn't picture you as one before, but after that, I can see it. Flannel and cowboy boots and all."

"I didn't wear cowboy boots!" I said indignantly, pulling out of the parking spot. "And I most definitely did not wear flannel!"

"Right, flannel's the gay thing," Keith said, grinning. "So if anyone were to wear that, it would be me."

"Did you wear flannel when you were little?" I teased.

"Maybe once or twice?" he replied. "I'm actually not sure."

"You gotta ask Shiro for any pictures he has of you when you were in school," I insisted. "We need to test this theory."

"Oh God no," Keith laughed. "Not my emo phase pictures!"

"But I thought it wasn't a phase, Mom!" I said, looking over to see him bury his face in his hands in embarrassment. "And from what I can tell, it looks like you're still in that emo phase."

"I wear all black because that's our uniform here," he protested. "And my hair is long because I'm too lazy to go get it cut and it's been like that ever since I was a baby!"

"I'll take you to get it cut this weekend," I offered. "Sunday, when the restaurant's closed. I'll pick you up and take you to get it cut and we can get lunch together and everything."

"Uh... sure," Keith said. I looked over and found that strangely, I couldn't read his expression. I was usually really good at reading people, but I just couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

"Sounds like a plan then," I smiled, turning back to the road. "Ten sound good?"

"Yeah... yeah," he said, his voice getting really soft all of a sudden.

It was only five minutes after I'd dropped him off at his apartment complex and I was pulling into the parking lot outside my own that I realized I'd basically just asked him out on a date. The horn from my car could probably be heard at Keith's place as I repeatedly hit my head against the steering wheel, cursing myself for being so stupid. What was this going to change between us? Was that how Keith saw it - a date? He didn't like me... right?

"Lance, what the heck are you doing?" Hunk asked, opening the door to my car. "You're going to wake everyone up, and you know how scary Pidge gets when people wake her up."

"Sorry," I murmured, grabbing my phone and keys and getting out of the car. "I'm just currently questioning everything that has ever happened to me."

"What happened?" Hunk asked, putting an arm around me and leading me inside gently.

"I basically just asked Keith out."


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The show element is finally announced and all of the workers start planning their performances. A few new people join the crew and others change to different places of the staff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is super short, it's kind of filler information right now. Hope you enjoy it all the same!

**Keith POV**

The days passed slowly, the crowds growing more and more each time. Allura even mentioned possible expanding the restaurant if our numbers continued to rise like this. Hunk was starting to get overwhelmed in the kitchen by himself, so his girlfriend, Shay, came to help him. Even then food was coming out too slowly, despite Hunk's quick training of Shay, so Allura called upon her cousin Romelle, who had just moved to the area, to help Hunk.

Romelle was an interesting person, to say the least. She was really energetic and cheerful, but when it came down to it, she was a passionate and hard worker, and she worked well with Hunk and Shay. She fit right in with the rest of the team, like she'd been there all along, and I envied that part of her a little bit. She was so good with people... I couldn't relate.

It was Saturday morning when Allura gathered all of us together in the staff room for a team meeting before customers started to arrive. She looked really happy... too happy. I groaned inwardly. What was she going to torture us with today?

"You've all been working really well together," she began, "and our newest employees had joined into the flow of things amazingly. So, I talked things over with Coran and-" she paused for dramatic effect, "-we believe it's time to add that performance element we were talking about before."

I didn't know what to think, so I just stared at her in stunned silence. The others did the same, seemingly confused.

"But... with all the business lately, won't we need all staff working around the clock?" Shiro asked. "We won't have time to perform, much less practice with our current hours the way they are. And if we do open on Sundays like you were thinking about..."

"Nooooo way," Lance said. "No Sundays. I need time to relax and... and have some Jesus time."

Knowing he wasn't super religious, I snorted disbelievingly. "Nice try, buddy."

"But seriously, no Sundays," Pidge said. "I need some time to catch up on all my night class work and keep going on my personal projects with Matt."

"Okay, no Sundays," Allura agreed. "And Shiro, we're going to add in a few more new people and see how well they fit in before we try anything. I'm actually going to see how well I do as a waitress as well, since it seems Coran and Pidge have it more than covered up front." She smiled at the two in mention fondly. "So I think we'll be fine."

"Where would we perform, and what kind of things would we do?" Hunk asked hesitantly.

"Coran was going to build a platform or stage over there," Allura said, pointing out the doorway to an area in view of the whole restaurant. "And it would sort of be like a talent show in school - do whatever you're good at. I trained my pet mice to do some tricks a couple months ago, and they adore attention so I was going to have them perform, and I thought I could sing as well if anyone wanted to do a duet."

My ears perked up at "duet" and before I could think about the consequences I would face at home, I pushed my brother forward in front of me, saying, "Shiro is actually quite a good singer. A little shy in front of people, but he warms up to it. Give him some practice and he'll be fine."

"Wait, what?!" he started to protest.

"Perfect!" Allura grinned, clasping her hands and bouncing on her toes. "Everyone just tell me any ideas you have and I'll help you plan them out! Shiro, whenever you're free during the day, come up front and we can start planning our duet!"

"Uh, o-okay," my brother stuttered out.

"Smooth," I muttered as Allura went back out into the main part of the restaurant and everyone else started planning their performances.

"Shut up," he grinned, shoving me lightly. "You know you're in for it when we get home."

"Yeah, I know," I laughed. "No need to thank me, though."

"So, what does everyone have in mind for their act?" Lance asked before Shiro could reply.

"I don't really do performance kinda stuff," Pidge said uncertainly, looking over at Matt, who had recently joined us as a waiter. The restaurant was so popular by now that we didn't really need him as a sign spinner anymore.

"Yeah, I have no clue what I'm going to do," he said now.

"Maybe you and someone could reenact one of the fight scenes from those animes you watch," Pidge teased. "I bet people would get a kick out of all that screaming."

"Anime is quality content that I enjoy, stop shaming me!" Matt protested. "Just watch one-"

"Nope, I've overhead plenty," Pidge grinned, putting up a hand to stop him from continuing. "It's ridiculous."

"You-"

"Okay, enough about anime," Shiro sighed, rubbing his forehead with his human hand. "Now, what does everyone else have planned?"

"I don't know," Hunk said, hesitantly looking to Shay for guidance. "I don't do a lot besides college, helping Shay with her research, and cooking, so..."

"Yeah, me neither," his girlfriend said. "I'm not too sure what I'll do, either."

"Honestly, the restaurant is so busy anymore, we might not even get to perform if we can come up with something," Romelle pointed out. "We're going to have to be cooking basically nonstop if we want to keep up with all the orders, and even one of us leaving is probably out of the question."

"You're right," Hunk sighed. "Well, it's probably for the best. I'd love to do something like this, but I have no idea what I would do if I had the time."

"Aw, buddy," Lance said, slinging an arm across his shoulders. "I was hoping you could be my dance partner."

"That would be a no anyway," Hunk replied. "You know what happened the last time I tried to dance with you."

"My hand slipped, that was my fault," Lance protested desperately, pulling back to face him directly. "It won't happen again, I swear!"

"Sorry, man," his friend said, patting his shoulder sadly. "I need to stay in the kitchen anyway."

"Ughhh," Lance groaned. He turned to the Holt siblings, who were talking together excitedly and planning something. "Pidgeeeee, my buddy!" he said cheerfully, an almost flirtatious tone to his voice. "Will you be my dance partner, pleaseee? I'll owe you one!"

"You owe me twelve by now," Pidge pointed out, much to Lance's dismay. "And Matt and I just add an idea for something we could do, at least for the first few shows since it's so short notice."

"What is it?" Shiro asked, looking at the siblings with genuine interest.

"Laser show!" they said together, grinning.

"Will Allura approve of that?" Shiro asked them.

At the same time, Hunk yelled, "Awesome!"

"I'll check with her first, but I bet it'll be fine," Pidge told my brother confidently. "Besides, Matt and I have ton  _loads_  of laser shows before, for the Garrison's Christmas celebrations and various projects there and stuff."

"Just be careful," Shiro warned. "I remember a certain person that was almost injured in a laser incident at the Garrison..." he glared at Matt, who flushed and replied defensively,

"Well, your  _boyfriend_ -"

"Adam was trying to stop you because he noticed the wire was frayed and he knew it was going to explode!" Shiro protested. "He was trying to help you, not make you rush and set the entire lab on fire!"

"Enough about you science gays, I need someone to be my dance partner!" Lance groaned.

"You're right," my brother said, calming himself. "Now, Keith, do you have any plans for what you're going to do?"

I was so used to Lance's wailing by now that I hadn't paid it much attention, too lost in thought about my own problem. What in the world was I going to do? I wasn't good at anything, really, at least not anything you could perform on a stage. I'd really lost interest in everything I'd liked after I dropped out of the Garrison anyway... depression was a bitch.

"I have no clue, honestly."

This of course left me very open to Shiro's revenge plot for what I had done with him and Allura. 

"So you're able to be Lance's dance partner?"

Lance and I immediately turned to look at each other, faint blushes across our cheeks already.

"Yeah, I was just about to ask you anyway," Lance said, trying to regain his composure. "I really need a partner, and you're a pretty fast learner for physical stuff, right?"

"Like knife-throwing and swordfighting or karate movements, sure," I said. "I'm not too good at dancing..."

"Eh, you'll learn pretty fast," Shiro said encouragingly. "Give it a shot!"

I sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you!" Lance yelled, running forward and hugging me tightly before I could stop him. "I know we'll make a great team!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew gets together at the Holt's for a supposedly "relaxing get together" that quickly spirals out of control. Later, Keith and Lance start working on their act for the new performance aspect of their job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is over twice the length of a usual one (and probably should be split in two but whatever), in honor of the new season coming out soon. Let's hope we get the Klance content we've been looking for!  
> As always, comment your thoughts and any suggestions for future scenes you want to see, and enjoy!

**Keith POV**

The next day was Sunday, so we didn't have work. Pidge invited everyone over to her apartment just to hang out, so Shiro and I went, hoping for a chill afternoon after such a rushed week. However, we opened the door to the most intense Mario Kart battle I had ever witnessed.

"Fuck off, Pidge!" Lance screamed. "I'm finally getting into the top five, don't hit me with the lightning now!"

"Sucker!" Pidge cackled.

"Don't blue shell me!" Matt wailed. "Piiiiiidge!"

"Later, loser," she grinned, jerking her controller sharply to the left. "You snooze you lose."

"I'm the one losing!" Hunk said indignantly. "I'm in tenth place!" He gave up a few minutes later and just kept eating the bowl of chips between him and Pidge on the couch, letting his friend win before handing her his controller so she could finish the race for him. "I hate this game," he muttered.

"Ha! Third!" Lance yelled happily, bouncing on the couch as Shiro and I came further into the room. "Oh, hey Keith! Hi Shiro!"

"Take it," Hunk begged me, shoving his controller into my hands. "I can't deal with them anymore."

"I got you, buddy," I grinned, sitting on the armrest beside Lance, who was on Pidge's other side.

"We have two more races left in this set," Matt told me.

"Okay. Now, let's see, who do you have selected..." I murmured. "Hunk, why are you Rosalina?"

"That's Lance," Hunk said. "I'm Mario, bottom right corner. Can't go wrong with a classic."

I groaned. "You selected the  _worst_  car, my dude," I told him. "That's why you're consistently in twelfth place."

"Even I couldn't save you after you gave up on that last round, man," Pidge said.

"Nooooooo!" Lance screamed as the next track came up on the screen. " _FUCK_  Rainbow Road!"

"Fuck you!" I yelled, smirking as I fixed my eyes on the screen, controller at the ready. "I love this one!"

"Wait, the uncultured Keith Kogane has actually played Mario Kart before?" Lance said, feigning shock. "I never would've guessed!"

"Yeah, I played with Shiro a lot at the Garrison when we weren't training or in classes," I replied, pressing my button to start the engine. "I lost almost every round, but it's prepared me."

"Shiro should go against Pidge then," Hunk said. "Pidge is the best Mario Kart player I've ever met."

"Aw, thanks Hu- KEITH!!" Pidge screeched as I shoved her character to the side and took first place five seconds into the game. "What the fuck, man?!"

"Like I said, I'm prepared," I grinned. "And it's been a couple years, too. Geez, guys up your ga- LANCE!!"

"Hahaaaa, flower-plant thing for the win!" Lance yelled, passing me while Mario spun out to the side.

"Stupid  plant power-up thing," I muttered, chasing after him immediately. In the time it had taken me to regain control of my car, both Matt and Pidge had passed me, along with a com. "Oh, c'mon!" I yelled as I fell into fifth place.

"Focus on the track instead of your place," Shiro called from the kitchen area, where he was getting a cup of coffee. "You get distracted way too easily."

"This is Mario Kart, Shiro, not the flight simulators at the Garrison!" Matt teased, knocking Rosalina off the track.

"Maaaaaaaatt!" Lance shouted. "I trusted you!"

"I'm beating Pidge, and I'll take out anyone in my path to get it!" Matt shouted, sounding an awful lot like one of the characters from those anime shows he watches.

"OKAY, WHO JUST FUCKING BLUE SHELLED ME?!" Pidge roared as Matt got into first place, her character spinning out from the blow.

I cackled loudly, fighting to get past Rosalina. "Oh, c'mon Lance, I just got here, let me win one round!" I joked.

"You'll have to fight me for that third place spot!" he said, elbowing my arms as we passed the com in front of us.

"Hey!" I yelled, nearly dropping my controller. "What the hell? Is physical interferance allowed, Pidge?!"

"It's Mario Kart, anything is allowed!" Pidge yelled, throwing pretzels at her brother, who was on Hunk's other side.

"Well in that case-" I shoved myself off the armrest, falling on top of Lance and trapping his controller underneath me.

"Keith! What the-" he shoved me off of him, but I put up a leg and kept kicking at his arms as he tried to steer again, my own eyes never leaving the screen as I finally passed him and started gaining on the Holts, who were continuously trying to knock each other off the track.

"It's the third lap, guys!" Hunk yelled excitedly, bouncing in his seat.

"Hunk, I suggest you move," Pidge said in a deadly serious voice. "It's about to get very physical."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Hunk replied, diving over the back of the couch and crawling over to the armrest where I had formerly been perched, sitting on the floor beside it to watch the chaos ensue.

"Keith... get... off!" Lance grunted, shoving at my head with one arm while I tried to get in his line of sight.

"I'm not letting you take my place!" I protested, crawling further into his lap to get more in the way.

"It won't make any difference, Mario will only go up to like tenth place because he lost so many games before!" he replied, pushing me again. "I have a consistent spot in third place and I'm not about to lose it!"

"If you're in fourth you'll still probably have that spot," I said, trying to reason with him while continuing to try to knock his controller out of his hands with my elbow. "At least I'll get a little further up the leaderboard!"

"Stop trying to take my controller!" he shouted, shoving my face with his right hand as he held his controller out away from me with his left.

"Stop pushing me off the track then!" I yelled as Rosalina pushed Mario over the side again. "Now I'm in sixth, thanks to how long it took to get me back up here!"

"You're still doing better than I was," Hunk pointed out. "So that's a plus."

"Ughhhh," I groaned, crawling on top of Lance again. "Fall off, fall off..."

"Get off!" Lance said, getting a good hit to my stomach and sending me tumbling over the back of the couch. I hit the ground hard, but I got up quickly when I realized I couldn't see the screen anymore and raced around the other side, plopping down next to Matt to finish the race while Pidge attacked him. One good kick sent her brother's controller flying across the apartment to where Shiro stood. I wasn't paying attention to what was happening over there since I was trying to catch up to the others, but from Shiro's laughter and Matt's shouting, I guessed my brother was holding it up over his head so Matt couldn't reach, like he used to do with me way back when.

In the end, I got a bullet power-up and finished in third place, with Lance in second and Pidge in first. Matt finished in last place, losing his second place streak behind Pidge.

"Shirooooooo," he groaned as he crossed the finish line. "You made me lose my streak!"

"It's not like you were in first," my brother grinned, sitting beside me with his coffee cup in his hand.

"Yeah, but if I'd gotten first even once, I would've... no wait, Pidge would still have been in first overall... dammit."

"Shiro, when that next round starts, your coffee is going to go flying," I warned as the track popped up.

"Eww, not Grumble Volcano!" Lance moaned. "It's like it's choosing all the ones I'm bad at!"

"That's a mood," Shiro muttered under his breath.

I turned and stared at him in shock. "Did you just meme?" I gasped.

Pidge and Matt turned to look immediately. "Shiro did a meme?!" Pidge yelled.

"Oh, no," Shiro said, looking at all of us staring at him in surprise. "What have I started now."

"Forget Mario Kart, this is a miracle!" Pidge declared, throwing down her controller.

"Yes!" Lance shouted. "Now I can finally win for once!"

"Okay, y'know what?" Pidge said, picking her controller back up again as the race prepared to start. "We'll deal with Shiro's meme-ing later, right now we have one final race to do."

Needless to say, I was correct. Shiro's coffee was spilled all over his shirt and the pant leg of my jeans after Matt shoved me off the couch and I tried to hook onto Shiro's arm with my leg in a desperate attempt to stay upright. It didn't work.

The final leaderboard had Pidge in first (Matt never did beat her, no matter how hard he tried), her brother in seventh, Lance in second, and me in fifth.

The second the leaderboard popped up and everyone saw their placement, they all crowded around Shiro to start interrogating him about his knowledge of memes. Allura, Romelle, and Coran arrived just then (Shay had lab work, according to Hunk), and having the little internet connection they did, they had no idea what memes were. So Pidge got out this giant whiteboard from her lab room (apparently she figured out long scientific or mathematical equations for her inventions on there) and started drawing out all sorts of Vines and other great memes on there, with the help of Matt, Lance, and Hunk, of course.

I just sat back and watched it all, discovering that apparently I was quite uncultured as well, almost as bad as Shiro was. It turned out I only knew the ones I did because of hanging out with Lance so much lately, since he quoted Vines and stuff a  _lot_. 

When Pidge and Lance finally called it quits on the memes lesson, they all decided to put in a movie and watch it. They ended up voting on  _Spider-man: Homecoming_. Not being up to date on all of the Marvel movies, I sat to the side of the couch instead of on it, not really sure who anyone was or what was happening. About halfway through, Lance got up for a bathroom break and sat beside me when he returned.

"Hey man," he whispered. "You good?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, looking at the carpet I was sitting on. "I haven't watched all of these movies so I'm just kinda confused."

"I've seen this one so many times," Lance laughed softly, and I felt my cheeks flush. I had no idea why they did that so randomly, so I ducked my head so hide my red face as he continued, "You wanna come up to my apartment with me? I can start teaching you an easy dance we could do, at least for our first few performances."

"Okay," I said, turning to meet his eyes. He grinned at me and got up, offering a hand.

When we were both standing, he threw an arm over my shoulder easily and led me down the hallway, calling to the others, "We're heading out to work on our performance, be back in a few hours."

"Shhhh! This is the best part!" Pidge hissed.

"Wow, I feel  _so_  loved," Lance muttered sarcastically as we opened the window and slipped out onto the fire escape.

"You are, though," I said quietly as we closed the window behind us and started climbing. "They all really do love you, I can tell just from the way they act around you. It was just during a movie and everything, they probably wanted to pay attention to that and didn't want any interruptions and stuff. You can just text them, since I don't think anyone heard you."

"Whatever you say," he replied, pulling out his phone and instructing Siri on what to text "Pidgeon". Meanwhile, I opened the window to his apartment and busied myself with trying to push Lance's words out of my head. He didn't really think they didn't care about him, right?

"Aw, shit, we were supposed to go get you a haircut today!" Lance yelled as he swung through the window, letting it close behind him. "We can run and do that instead of this if you want."

"Uh, I'm good with keeping it like this for now," I said quietly, running my hand through my long hair anxiously as Lance went into the living room section and shoved the couch and coffee table towards the edges of the carpet easily. "I'm not that ready for such a huge change so suddenly, y'know?"

"I understand that," Lance said, walking over to his TV and opening YouTube on it. Ah, so he had one of those fancy ones...

"How soon... how soon do you start school again?" I asked, ducking my head when I paused and looking up again when I continued, stepping a little closer to Lance as I took in the details of his apartment. The kitchen had tons of different cooking supplies usual apartments didn't have, I guessed thanks to Hunk. There were movie posters all over the walls, and two shelves next to the TV full of movies that I assumed weren't on Netflix.

"A week or so?" Lance replied distractedly. "I know we start performing before I start up again, though."

"What will I do during performances without you?"

"I could teach you a solo dance on your own, if you're comfortable enough performing on your own," he said, typing something in Spanish into the search bar on the screen. "And if not, I guess you could find another act for when I'm not there. Or even better, you could try to get your scholarship back, if that's a thing you can do, and you can come back to school with us."

"Nah, school... isn't really my thing," I said quietly, trying not to think about the last thing I did before leaving the Garrison.

"You said you dropped out when Shiro got in the accident," Lance commented, "yet Mr. Iverson still says they have a zero-dropout rate, despite a few expulsions. Were you expelled?"

"Uh..." I said awkwardly. "Kinda?"

"How'd you get expelled?" he asked, scrolling through the search results for the right video.

"Y'know how Iverson has a fucked-up eye?" I murmured.

"Yeah," Lance said, still not fully paying attention to the conversation. Suddenly he seemed to register what I was saying and he whirled around, staring at me open-mouthed. "YOU DID THAT TO IVERSON?!" he yelled.

"Uhh... yeah," I said sheepishly, looking down at my feet. "He was talking shit about Shiro and saying the wreck was his fault and everything, and I just... I just lost it."

"Rightfully so," he laughed. "I  _hate_  that guy."

"I couldn't stand him," I scowled at the ground while he started scrolling again. "Yelling at everyone for no reason, never saying anything remotely encouraging..."

"He's an asshole," Lance said.

"Honestly."

There were a few moments of silence before lively Spanish music suddenly started playing over the speakers. Lance walked over to me and grinned, already starting to move his hips a little. "Okay," he said, holding out his hands to me. "I'm just sorta gonna teach you the basics, and then we can make up a routine together based on where we're strongest."

"Sure," I said, taking off my jacket. I was wearing a tank top underneath, and I tried to ignore the way Lance stared at my arms for a second too long as I took his hands. "So... what do we do first?"

"Do you like work out or something?" he only said in response. "Because I do and dude, I'm still built like a stick."

"Uh, kinda," I said, feeling my face turning red. "When I can't sleep I work out, so that's usually most of the night."

"Trouble sleeping all the time?" he asked, starting to lead us slowly around the living room. "Me too."

"It might be a stress thing, not sure," I said quietly, looking down. "Never had anyone to tuck me in at night and everything, though, so if I'm tired enough, I can fall asleep just about anywhere."

"I'm sorry, man," Lance said, tightening his grip on my hands slightly. "You deserve so much better than that."

"It's fine," I said sharply, looking up and shaking my hair out of my face. "Okay. So what are we doing first?"

Lance showed me some basic steps and tried to get me to copy them, but let me point one thing out first: he is a natural dancer. Anyone can see it, with the way he seems to control the music instead of the other way around, easily blending in with it and moving with it flawlessly. Anything he does fits the music, he's just that good. However, I am not. I'm awkward and move too fast and suddenly, and I just can't move correctly. So Lance had his work cut out for him.

An hour after we started, I had somewhat gotten a few steps, but for the most part, I was just as hopelessly bad as I was a week ago, when I never thought I would have to dance again in my life, not after Shiro tried to teach me for my senior dance at the Garrison. That was a wreck, by the way. I went by myself and ended up beating up some kid named James when he made fun of me for being gay and coming alone since there wasn't another openly gay kid who wanted to come with me. It sucked. Shiro had to leave the refreshments table and take me home.

Anyway, after attempting this one movement for a good ten minutes and not getting any better, I ripped my hand from Lance's strong and patient grip and grabbed my jacket. "I can't!" I yelled. "I can't do this! I'm sorry, Lance, but I just can't dance!"

"Keith, wait-" he began.

"I can't!"

"You just need some more practice-"

"I've been practicing for the last hour and I just can't do it!" I shouted, storming down the hallway and opening the window. "Lance, I'm not a natural dancer like you! I can't move like I was born to! I can't!"

"Keith-"

"You have to find a different partner," I said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Without even thinking about it, I climbed out the window and started sprinting up the steps, the blood roaring in my ears covering the sound of my heavy footsteps on the metal ladder. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, the anger coursing through my veins keeping me from being able to think straight, much less see straight. I tripped on the last step as I stumbled onto the roof, walking over to the place where Lance has showed me without even thinking about it.

As I stood there, looking at the setting sun once again, I felt the anger starting to fade from my bones, my harsh grip on my biceps starting to loosen. My hands dropped to my sides, the pain lingering in my arms where I had dug my fingernails in. I felt the last of my frustration leave me as I let out a deep breath, leaning my forearms on the barrier of the roof. Now I just felt a strange, heavy, lingering sadness as I watched the city start to wind down for the night.

"I really thought I could do it," I murmured to myself. "For one stupid, ignorant second, I actually thought I might be able to do something for once." Lance was relying on me, all of them were. They needed me to be able to dance, but I couldn't. I just couldn't get it, and now I'd let them all down. What were we going to do for the performance now?

"Hey, man."

I turned around and saw Lance standing there at the top of the fire escape, looking really shy and awkward. "Hi."

"Listen, it's okay if you're not a natural dancer or anything, okay?" Lance said, walking over to me as the words seemed to just pour from his mouth. "You can still dance and you can still have fun. And it doesn't matter how long it takes you to learn the dances, it doesn't matter how slow we have to go, because you're still improving, I can tell, and it doesn't matter how many nights we'll have to spend here practicing, it doesn't matter because we're doing it together and we're going to do great and people are gonna love it and-"

He was rambling, I could tell, but the things he said hit home, making my heart ache as tears welled in my eyes. They hit where he wanted them to. But I could tell he was also not thinking about what he was saying, and soon something was gonna slip out that he probably didn't want to say. So I cut him off by basically tackling him in a hug.

"Oh," he said quietly as I wrapped my arms around him, the tears starting to spill over, and buried my face in his shoulder.

"Thank you," I choked out.

"Anytime, buddy," he whispered, hugging me in return and burying his face in my neck, his hair brushing against my cheek. After a moment, he murmured, "Your hair is really soft. Can I braid it sometime?"

I felt a laugh bubbling up inside of me, but I forced it down when I realized how serious he sounded.

"Of course," I said, not telling him that I never let anyone touch my hair. Heck, I barely let anyone touch  _me_. Yet Lance seemed to be the only exception for a lot of things lately.

When we finally pulled apart, we noticed that the sun had fully set and the few stars we could see (thanks to light pollution from the city) shone above us. I took another moment to stare at them, realizing just how different things were here from my home out in Texas. I used to be able to see every star, identify every contellation...

Lance's quiet humming snapped me back to reality. I turned to him and saw him looking at me, that strange soft look on his face like it almost always was when he looked at me anymore. I reached out and took his hands without thinking, letting my longing for human contact override the logical part of my brain screaming at me to stop. Lance kept humming, seeming to sense what I was wanting to do. "May I have this dance?" I whispered, trying to ignore the sound of my heart thudding in my chest.

Lance nodded and we stepped closer to each other, one of my hands linked with his and the other finding its way to his shoulder as his free hand came to my waist. He eventually stopped humming and started singing instead, letting the words slip through his lips like he could sing the song in his sleep. I found myself unable to look away from him as we slow danced, his beauty seeming more prominent than I'd ever seen as long as I'd known him. The light from the buildings around us shone on his face just right and when he opened his eyes to look at me, it took my breath away. His eyes looked so much lighter for a second, in such contrast with his skin and hair, that I had to force myself to look away. He was just so perfect, in this way I couldn't put into words or even form into a clear thought.

"Ready?" he whispered.

We pulled apart then, linked only by one hand,  and I spun back towards him, enjoying the few moments I got of being pressed up against him as he smiled, his arm around me, before he dipped me suddenly, yelping as he caught me.

"You asshole!" I hissed and he pulled me back upright and we returned to our original positions. "At least give me some warning!"

"Sorry,  _sweetheart_ ," he teased, trying to smother his laughter despite his obvious smile. "Wanna try again?"

"Whatever," I grumbled, trying to hide my growing smile as well. "We might as well."

So we tried the spin again, this time holding the pose for probably a beat too long. I stared up at Lance as his face hovered alarmingly close to mine, the heat of his arm holding me up and his other hand against my thigh dangerously obvious to me. I tried to focus on my own hands, one on his waist and the other holding onto the arm of the hand on my leg that was extended in the air.

"Well, I say this worked a little better than last time," Lance said, smirking down at me.

"Yeah," I gasped breathlessly, a strange feeling in my stomach. It took a lot for me to get nervous, but I swore I felt butterflies.

"What do you say we go back to the apartment and try the dance again?" he asked, pulling me back into a standing position. I found it difficult to think straight in the close proximity to him, literally about as close to him as I could possibly be. Our feet were touching and I was pressed up against him, his arm still around me from the dip. Our faces were so close, I could feel his breath against my skin. Everything in me screamed to kiss him, but the little bit of anxiety deep in my stomach, the anxiety drowning the butterflies there, made me stop.

"Uh... sure," I murmured, trying not to make it too obvious that I was staring at his lips. Okay, it was super obvious. Anyone a mile away could tell I really wanted to kiss him, right here, right now. He just looked so perfect there with the faint light from other buildings shining on him, his body warm against mine, our faces so close they were almost touching... the moment was just right, everything could only be described as perfect.

"Well, we'd better get going then." Lance shifted so we were holding hands, his trademark grin crossing his face. No, it wasn't his usual smile. There was something... softer about it. More endearing. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and smiled back at him, letting him pull me away from the edge of the building where we had stood.

We climbed down the fire escape slowly, barely able to see the metal gleam of the steps in the darkness. "What was that song you were singing just there?" I asked quietly as we grew closer to his window. Just two more floors.

"Uhhh... I didn't even realize what song it was until now," Lance said, not looking at me. I could tell just from the slight shake in his voice that he was lying. "That was sort of parents' song. It was the first one they danced to as a couple when they started dating, so in our family it's become very special and important."

I felt my face go red. "Well, I'm very glad you've shared that song with me. It's very pretty." I was tempted to add, "like its singer", but the anxiety in my stomach stopped me in time, seeming to close off my throat so I could hardly breathe.

"Me too," Lance said quietly, letting go of my hand to open the window. "I'm glad I chose you as the one to share it with."

We spent most of the night practicing once we got inside and got situated. Whenever I couldn't get something right and he could tell I was staring to get frustrated and angry with myself, he would stop us and just look at me, our faces always too close to be considered just friendly, and he would whisper, "It's okay, buddy. Just take it step by step, okay? Slow it down as much as you need to."

By around three am, we could do the dance relatively well, but we were so physically exhausted from working on it for so long that we decided not to push it any further and to call it quits for the night.

"Are the others still even here?" I laughed quietly, almost delirious with exhaustion, as we climbed through Pidge's window.

"Guess so," Lance murmured as we entered the living room to find everyone asleep on and around the couch, the TV screen off. Judging from Hunk's makeshift bed beside it, I guessed that he'd been the one to turn it off when everyone else fell asleep. He was so sweet, always looking out for the others.

"What would be the cruelest way to wake them up?" I pondering, a smirk crossing my face. "Doesn't Pidge have an air-horn somewhere?"

"I know Matt has a megaphone if we can't find that," Lance said, a grin spreading across his lips. "Which one should we try?"

"Megaphone, definitely," I said, already running for Matt's room.

"Hey! It was my idea!" he called after me, trying to grab my arm. "I should do it!"

"Shh! You'll wake them too early!" I laughed, grabbing the megaphone and curling my body around it so Lance couldn't reach it.

"We'll do it together, how about that?" he offered, holding out a hand.

"Fine," I sighed over-dramatically, shaking his hand and starting down the hallway again. "What'll we say?"

"We can just yell 'Wake up' super loudly?" he suggested as we positioned ourselves behind the couch, so everyone could hear us clearly.

"Wait, don't some megaphones make a weird beeping noise if you press the right button?" I asked, turning over the thing in my hands. "I have no clue how these things work, honestly."

"I used to use these all the time for pranks and stuff, but this one is different than my old one," Lance said, reaching over and examining it with me. I felt my face flush as one of his hands brushed mine and I quickly ducked my head more than it already was so he wouldn't see.

"Let's just go with the yelling thing, then," I said. "You wanna press the button that makes it work?"

"Which one is that?"

"Just press that blue one, I think that does it."

Suddenly the megaphone emitted a loud blast of sound, like an airhorn but ten times as loud. I couldn't really hear clearly, but I think Lance and I both started swearing like pirates, while the others fell off the couch from surprise, Matt hitting his head on the coffee table as he went down.

"What the hell is that?!" Pidge shouted, trying to find her glasses after they'd fallen off in her tumble.

"Wake up!" Lance and I yelled into the megaphone as he finally hit the right button.

"You guys are so dead-" she began.

"Shit!" I cried, sprinting down the hall. "Lance, forget the megaphone and run! Shiro, I'll see you at home if I survive this!"

"Pidge, don't kill my brother yet, I want to help you with that!" I faintly heard Shiro mumble as Lance and I thundered up the fire escape again, the metal clanging so loudly it probably woke the whole city.

"Dude, my neighbors are gonna kill meeeeee," Lance laughed.

"No, they're gonna kill Pidge and Matt, since all the noise came from their apartment," I said while we swung through the window into his place again. "Also, can I stay here until they calm down?"

"Sure," he said, flopping onto his couch, which we had moved back into place. "Hey, can you lock the window, by the way? Knowing Pidge's she'll try to get in that way after she discovers my door is locked."

"But doesn't Hunk have to get in at some point?" I asked, locking the window.

"He's probably pissed at me too, so he'll end up on the couch at the Holt's," he replied easily, turning on the TV. "So make yourself at home, we have work tomorrow."

"Technically in a few hours," I pointed out, sitting down next to him as he scrolled through Netflix.

"Ew."

"I bet we'll open late though, thanks to our rude awakening of our boss."

"Shit, she's gonna kill us later, isn't she? Allura kind of terrifies me," he said. I had multiple questions about that, considering he flirted with her all the time to try to get out of stuff (which never worked, by the way), but I didn't voice any of them.

"Honestly, same. And she probably will. But she loves all of us deep down, so I think we'll be okay."

There was just silence from there, a strange, comfortable silence that I could only seem to find with him and Shiro, the only people that truly knew me well. Before Lance could pick out a movie or whatever to watch, I was asleep, the last thing I saw being my vision tilting as my head came down to rest on his shoulder.

"Good night, buddy," Lance whispered as I let my exhaustion take hold of me. "Sleep well."


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first show at the restaurant, and Keith and Lance are scared out of their minds. They help each other before and during their performance and bond a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a month since I have posted I'm so sorry school started before I could get a new chapter up and marching band has kept me so busy lately. Hopefully I'll finish this fanfic before the end of the year (should end around 20 chapters total), but I'm not sure. Anyways, enjoy, although this isn't my best work because I was very rushed when I wrote this, trying to get a chapter out before I forgot completely. Comment suggestions as always and thanks!

**Keith POV**

Weeks passed, and before I knew it, it was time for regular performances to begin. Allura had been putting up flyers everywhere, telling all of the customers about it, and encouraged us to do the same. I wasn't too great at putting it into my spiel when it was time for guests to leave, since I didn't want to take too long and get yelled at (which happened once). Lance was a lot better at it, telling the ladies about it while they gave him their numbers written on napkins. Even Shiro was pretty good at it, telling the parents about the performances while their children eagerly showed him their drawings on the kids menus. They just loved him, for whatever reason, even though he was  _awful_  with them.

The day started off busy, with people pouring in around eleven. The performance was set to start at eleven-thirty, so people obviously didn't understand that this was the worst possible time for them to come. The waiters were so busy trying to get their food that we didn't have time to get away and perform.

The stage Coran and Pidge had built was incredible. If anything, it was too elaborate for a restaurant, with the bright multi-colored lights sweeping over the crowd every now and then and the giant speakers that were all just for show. Pidge had found them in a junkyard apparently and fixed them up so they appeared to work, but the sound was really coming out of smaller speakers inside the big, hollowed-out ones.

Allura walked onto the stage at exactly eleven-thirty, perfectly composed and energetic. "Hello, everyone!" she said into the microphone in her hand. "Thank you all so much for coming to our first day of performances by the staff here at Alfor's Court. We hope to make this a regular thing at the restaurant, with the frequency of these days depending on how much our performers can take. First up we'll have the Fabulous Four, which are my pet mice that I have trained to do some incredible tricks for everyone. At the same time we will have a laser show put together by Matt and Katie Holt, two others on our staff. Can you guys wave for us?"

Matt and Pidge waved from where they were standing, grinning with pride at the recognition. I could only pray that their lasers wouldn't destroy the restaurant, and from the nervous look on Shiro's face, I could tell he felt the same.

"Alright, so I guess we'll get started then! Thank you all again for coming, and I hope you enjoy the show!" Allura said cheerfully into the microphone, but I could see the tiny bit of fear in her eyes, if only because I'd known her for so long by now. The future of the restaurant depended on this going well today. All of us had to do our act perfectly, for her sake and our own.

Allura ended up on the side of the stage, instructing her mice, who clearly had done many a show for her and any guests that came to her apartment. The laser show started up on the stage and they hurried out onto what looked like a tiny tightrope. It was hard to tell from here.

I was kept busy for the rest of the performance, but when I got a break, I slipped over to Coran and told him, "For the next time we do this, we should get a large screen or something, so they can see the mice. It's hard to see them from here."

He nodded. "Good idea, Keith! I was thinking we could actually put different screens all around the restaurant and stream the entire show to those."

"That could work," I agreed. I looked over and saw one of my tables getting up to leave. "I'd love to stay and talk more, but duty calls. See you around, Coran."

"Bye!"

Coran performed after the mice, doing some weird dance from a culture no one except him could seem to name.

"Did he say Numble...pogal...stree?" I whispered to Lance as we passed each other.

"I thought he said Parkle-yogel-skii," he replied.

"Who knows," I shrugged.

Eventually, we were so busy that Romelle had to come in and take over Shiro's tables so he could go sing with Allura. "You know," she said, "I could be a good addition to the show. I do a bit of gymnastics, so I could put together a floor routine and perform it."

"That would be awesome!" Lance grinned at her. "Maybe you could teach me some stuff? I did a few years of gymnastics when I was little and I think it would be fun to pick back up."

"Yeah, of course!"

I had to keep working during Shiro's performance, which sucked because I really wanted to stop and cheer him on. My brother was actually a pretty good singer, and he didn't have too terrible stage-fright, so I expected his performance with Allura to be the highlight of the show.

I ended up in the kitchen for most of the song, but I caught the end when I came back out and I found that the two of them actually sounded really good together. Of course we'd discovered that yesterday at rehearsal (coming in on the one day we were closed at sucked, but it ended up being worth it), but something about all of those other people cheering when they finished made it ten times better.

"We're up, mullet," Lance whispered in my ear as he passed me, the audience so loud I could barely hear him. "Hurry up and find an opening to get away."

However, at that exact moment, a huge group came in, and ten tables seemed to need their check at once. So the two of us basically sprinted around the restaurant, trying to get the tables cleared and the guests out of the way so we could go perform. The anxiety in my stomach was spreading to my throat, making it hard to breathe, much less speak. I was starting to panic, and I couldn't get any control over it.

Allura seemed to notice our problem and whispered something to Shiro, whose eyes widened and he nodded. "We're actually going to sing another song, if that's okay," Allura said into the mic. "Since everyone seemed to enjoy it so much." The crowd cheered and she smiled, making some hand signals to Coran, who was back in the tech seat, since Pidge had to seat the large group.

Lance and I worked together to get the now-empty tables cleared and wiped off, and continued handing out checks to everyone who seemed to be finishing up, getting the dishes and basically running to the kitchen with them.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be up there?" Hunk asked.

"Allura and Shiro are doing an encore so we can take care of this big group that just came in," Lance said, putting the dishes in the sink. "But we need more time, and I think this is their only backup song."

"I'll do it," Shay said. "I'll go up and sing so you guys can get some more time. While their food is getting ready or while they're eating, then you can go perform. Matt and Romelle can take care of the rest."

"Thank you so much, Shay," Lance said, hugging her quickly before rushing out again.

"Need any help in here, Hunk?" I asked.

"Nope, you guys get back out there," he replied, not looking up from the sauce he was making. "I'll have these ready soon."

"We are so understaaaaaffed," I half-sang in my stress as I rushed out to help Lance more.

When Shiro and Allura finished, Shay went up and sang this quiet, really soothing song. All of the customers went quiet, as if she'd put a spell on them, and they seemed a lot calmer than before, smiling as they finished their food. It was a lot easier for Lance and I to finish up and get away, taking off our aprons and composing ourselves. We moved to the side of the stage as Shay finished up, standing close together as we waited for Allura to announce us.

The churning anxiety inside of me was making my legs weak and I felt like I could hardly stand. Forget dancing.

"You okay?" Lance whispered as I struggled to breathe.

"God I'm so nervous," I murmured, bouncing on my toes. "I don't think I can do this."

Lance took my hand, squeezing it tightly. "It'll be okay," he said softly. "We've practiced this so many times that we could do it in our sleep. Rehearsal yesterday went flawlessly and everyone was really impressed. We just have to do that same thing, but with more people watching. So let's focus on what we did yesterday, okay? and try to do that again."

"Okay," I said, letting out a shaky breath.

"Can I hug you?" Lance asked quietly.

I turned and hugged him tightly in response, treasuring the tiny moment of peace as he held me tightly, resting his chin on top of my head as I buried my face in my shoulder. I felt myself grow calmer then, the butterflies taking over the monster of anxiety and letting my body relax a bit, most of the tension leaving.

"Good," Lance whispered, obviously sensing the new relaxed state I was in. "You ready now?"

"I think so."

Allura announced us then and we walked out together, joining our hands and bowing as we reached the center of the stage. I felt the butterflies vanish again as I looked out at the crowd, now considerably smaller than before, but still containing a few slightly disgusted looks when people realized that it was two men up on stage. This was interesting to me, because they didn't even know our act yet. For all they could've known, we would be doing juggling or magic tricks. But maybe it was kind of obvious from the way our hands stayed linked and we stood pretty close together that we were doing something that had physical contact.

 _Oh, no! A man touching another man! What monstrosity!_  I thought sarcastically as we got into our starting positions.

I felt my heartbeat beating in an odd sequence as the music started and we began dancing. My legs were shaking so bad they could barely hold my weight as I did a quick sequence of footwork. Lance took my hands again as we spun together and only then did I realize that he was just as scared as I was, his fingertips shakily brushing against my forearm as we moved.

"It's okay," I murmured, moving around him quickly as part of the dance.

"I already tripped once, I will again," he whispered fearfully.

"I didn't even notice, I doubt they did either," I told him. "You'll be fine. Just focus on the rest."

I slowly felt my fear ebb away as we continued, letting the dance take hold of me as I moved. We'd done this so many times that I didn't even have to think about it, just letting my mind wander, focusing instead on Lance's eyes, his small smile each time we correctly performed a difficult move. I could still feel his whole body shaking as I swung him around quickly, one difficult move flowing seamlessly into another, and squeezed his hand gently to let him know we were doing okay.

Towards the end I broke apart from him as we each did a separate fit of footwork, mirroring each other, before spinning back, me spinning across him, and falling into our ending pose, with him keeping me from tumbling down to the ground completely as I leaned back wayyyyy too far for my comfort zone, one arm outstretched delicately above my head. I felt a smile break across my face as we stayed here, breathing heavily, while the crowd cheered loudly. Lance helped me up gently and we wrapped our arms across each other's backs we bowed, linking hands as we walked back to the side of the stage.

"You guys did so good!" Allura squealed quietly, patting us on the arms quickly before darting out on stage to thank everyone for coming and tell them the performance schedule for the next little bit, until we saw how many people came regularly and could decide on a normal schedule.

"We didn't fail!" I laughed, grabbing Lance's other hand and swinging them up and down. I felt myself slip into a childish happiness as I came off of the adrenaline high, a huge smile spreading across my face that I hadn't felt in... in way too long to be healthy. "We did okay and people didn't hate us! They didn't start throwing their food at us! We aren't covered in spaghetti sauce!"

Lance grinned at that, joining in my arm-swinging. "Did you really think they would throw their food at us?"

"I was thinking irrationally because I was scared, okay?" I protested, feeling my cheeks go red. We walked back towards the employee room together, swinging our linked hands in silence as we pretended we didn't feel the other shaking, the tension finally being released how that it was over. 

"Thank you," I whispered finally, turning to look at him as he pushed open the door. "Thank you for calming me down and everything."

He smiled at me, squeezing my hand gently before letting go. "No problem, man. That's what friends are for, right?"

I felt my heart drop a little, fighting to keep my smile on my face as I let the door close behind me.

"Yeah," I said quietly. "Of course."

 _That's what_ friends _are for._


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance finishes the rest of the work day and tries to go home for the day by himself, but it confronted by Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever, I'm so sorry, school is kicking my butt right now. But I'm starting to get some more motivation for this back, and I hope to finish it soon! Enjoy!

**Lance POV**

I saw the pain in his eyes when I called him my friend, and I wished more than anything that I could tell him how much it hurt me too. Every time I pushed him away, every time I kept him at a distance, it felt like a knife to my heart, to the part of me screaming to go back to him, to fall into his arms and cry, to let him be my safety net.

But too many people in the past had let me fall.

Too many people hadn't caught me.

And I was terrified that he wasn't any different, and he too would let me fall.

I went through the rest of my day as usual, getting more numbers written on napkins than I had ever before. An idea coming to me during my short break, I grabbed an extra bread basket and put all of the napkins inside, grinning as I took a sticky note and wrote,

_Had a hard day? Take a number and prank call._

I left the basket just at the entrance to the kitchen on the table where we often hung out if we were waiting for food to be ready or if the restaurant was empty and we wanted to talk to Hunk, Shay, and Romelle. Now Hunk asked what I was doing and I explained my idea, getting a good laugh out of him and drawing the others over. Before I knew it, I was drawn up in an elaborate story about some of the customers behind the numbers on the napkins, and Romelle was laughing so hard she could barely focus on the meal she was supposed to be plating.

"Lance! One of your tables looks like they're waiting on you, instead of vise versa," Shiro said as he walked in, handed an order slip to Hunk, and left again, grabbing a few fries from the discard pile as he went. Yes, we had a discard pile. Really, they were just extra fries that had gone cold or gotten cooked too long that Hunk set aside for us after we kept stealing them off the plates. I sighed as I thought about those days, just when the restaurant had first opened and we had time to sit around and talk like this while we ate fries. Good times.

"Well, I gotta head out," I said. "Talk to you guys later." I grabbed a few fries myself as I headed out, taking my sweet time on my way to my tables so I could finish them and not show up with food in my mouth (tip: they don't like that. I know from experience).

The day carried on, boring as usual, and I found myself falling into my old routine of flirting with the girls I served, almost trying to get their numbers. I wanted more options for the prank falling basket.

"Hey, do you think I should tell this girl out there she has a ' _knife_  behind'?" I asked Hunk as I went in to grab a platter of food. "Or tell her I want to hold her ' _ham_ '?"

Hunk sighed, letting a small smile cross his face as he started chopping up vegetables faster than my heart could beat. "Whatever floats your root beer, I guess," he sighed. "Just try not to get slapped again, okay? I don't want to have to deal with Allura after she has to apologize for you for the third time now."

"It would be the fourth," Shiro said as he came in, delivering another paper and grabbing more fries. "Hey Romelle, Shay. Make sure you guys stay hydrated, alright? Hunk, Lance, you too. I don't want someone passing out on me again."

"Again?" Romelle asked as he left.

"One of the first days, Allura fainted," Hunk explained. "Exhaustion, dehydration, etc, etc. Ever since, Shiro's been super worried about everyone."

"I guess now that Keith is settled in and we're going to be even more busy now because of performances, he's bringing it back again," I said, grabbing a fry and heading for the door. "Catch you guys later."

At the end of the day, Pidge and Allura stayed behind to take inventory in the kitchen, sending the others home once they've cleaned up because they all knew tomorrow would only be more exhausting. I finished wiping down the last table, my heart heavy as I quietly hummed a sad song Veronica taught me forever ago when I was first learning the guitar. I absentmindedly pretend to strum the chords as I headed back to the staff room, taking off my apron and getting ready to leave with my thoughts clouded, my mistakes repeating over and over in my mind's eye.

"Hey Lance?"

I snapped back to reality as I went to open the door and turned to see Keith standing there, looking the ground shyly. "Hey, man," I said, forcing a smile as I let the door close. "What do you need?"

"I just wanted to check in on you," Keith said awkwardly, trying to meet my eyes but quickly looking away. "You've just been really quiet all day, and not as cheerful with the customers, and-"

"Keith, I'm fine," I lied, my grin not even fooling me. "I appreciate it, but trust me, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."  _Please don't leave, please stay, please listen to me, I'm not fine, help, force me to talk, help-_

"Okay," he said, a small forced smile of his own on his face. "Just let me know if you need anything."

"Of course," I replied, clenching my fists in my pockets. "Well, I guess I'll be heading out then. Got bills to talk over with Hunk and everything..."

"Y-yeah," Keith said. "See you tomorrow, I guess."

"Bye."

"Hey-" Keith said as I turned to open the door again. "Can we-" he paused, stumbling over his words as he wiggled his fingers in the air, seeming to think over his words. "Can we meet up again this weekend to practice?" he asked. "I feel like I'll forget everything if I don't practice every day, but I'll be fine if you don't want to or anything, we don't have to, I-"

"Keith," I interrupted gently. "Of course we can meet up, don't stress over it. I'll text you later, okay?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Sorry, I'm just a mess after today, and-"

"I totally understand," I smiled softly. "See you tomorrow then, alright?"

"Bye," he said, his face red as I turned and headed out the door. It was adorable how flustered he'd been, but somehow my heart felt even heavier as I walked to my car, knowing I was lying to him.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance meet up to practice their dances over the weekend and things take an unexpected turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for homophobia
> 
> I am so sorry this took so long to get put up, I swear this is going to get wrapped up soon! Aghhhh this took me wayyy too long! Just a few more chapters, I promise!

**Keith POV**

The rest of the week continued, our performances becoming a regular thing. We grew more and more tired as the week went on, getting back late after having so much more to clean up after our shifts, but it was worth it to see that many people coming into the restaurant - and to see that many now-familiar faces returning.

I knew something was bothering Lance, that much as obvious. He didn't flirt as much as he used to, even when lots of girls I assumed he would consider cute were openly hitting on him. He didn't smile as much as he normally did, and once I swear he almost glared at a little kid that wouldn't stop screaming. Lance almost  _glared at a child._ That was the biggest alarm bell for me, as normally Lance could make the child laugh at a funny face he made or help the parent calm them down. But no. He just looked really annoyed and he sighed really heavily every time he came into the kitchen. I tried to challenge him to competitions again to get him back in the spirit of things, but he would just quietly shake his head or ignore me completely. I tried multiple times to ask him what was wrong before or after our shows, but he always just pretended not to hear me or sighed and said, "Not now, Keith, I'll tell you later." We both knew he wouldn't.

So on Sunday morning when we met up to practice a new routine, I decided that it was now or never. I was going to get Lance to talk, whatever it took. Usually I don't like to push people, fearing they'd hate me or close up even more (which I understood completely), but this was different. This was  _Lance_ that was shutting me out. Lance, the happy-go-lucky night college student who was a huge nerd and yet flirted shamelessly with customers. Lance, who was insanely good with kids no matter what, and would never lose his temper with anyone no matter what they did. And yes, we started off rough, but we'd grown closer now - at least, I thought so - and maybe now he would confide in me.

The second I walked into his apartment, grinning and handing Hunk some brownies Shiro had made because  _food_ , I could tell Lance wasn't getting any better. He sat on the couch playing Mario Kart by himself, not smiling, hardly even moving the controller. He seemed so lifeless. Seeing a boy usually so filled with happiness and energy, it pained me.

"What's up with him lately?" I asked Hunk, trying to sound casual. He was Lance's best friend, maybe he'd told him something.

Hunk frowned. "Beats me. He won't say a word when he comes home anymore. He just goes to his room and does homework all night, I've heard him in there at like three in the morning. Has he said anything to you?"

I shook my head, glancing worriedly at my friend, noticing the window down the hallway was open. "I'm gonna see what I can do."

Hunk patted my shoulder gently and I barely resisted the urge to tense up as he did so. I still wasn't used to this whole physical-contact thing yet, but I had to admit, it wasn't so bad after all. "I have a date with Shay in a few minutes, so I'll be out of your way," he said. "Please, do whatever you can, even if it temporarily hurts him - just  _fix him_."

I nodded, my expression shifting and becoming firm again. "Whatever it takes."

I sat down on the couch next to Lance and watched the rest of the race, smiling and nudging him happily when he got first. "Man, you've improved since the last time I was over here!" I said, fully aware that I was grinning a bit too wide and talking a little too loud. I never was good at the whole cheering-people-up thing.

"It look me ages to get here, though," he sighed. "I've been playing all morning."

"Well, how about you take a break and we work on that new dance again?" I suggested, standing and offering a hand to help him up. "Then when we need a break from that, I'll challenge you again."

A flicker of a smile crossed his face and he switched the screen to YouTube again, our newest song being the first thing to show up. He took my hand and I pulled him off the couch, moving the furniture to the edges of the room while he pulled up the music. "Where do you want to start?" he asked.

"I was thinking we could just do a run-through, and then the spots we mess up we can go over a couple times," I said, shaking my hair out of my face. "Or actually, let's go through the one we've been doing lately instead, before we start on a new one. Just to fix any mistakes we might've missed this week."

"You can just say I messed up a lot and need to work on it more," Lance muttered, pulling the song up.

"Hey, both of us messed up, it's okay," I told him, walking closer. "You weren't the only one, and it wasn't even that noticeable. No one even noticed."

"Yeah, people noticed!" Lance yelled, throwing the remote onto the couch and whirling around to face him. "Everyone noticed and I heard them talking about how we're disgusting and those people will never return because they don't support-" he choked on a sob but I could predict the slur he wasn't able to say. "We're making the restaurant lose business," he said. "And I can deal with homophobia, I've dealt with it for ages, but when it hurts people I care about, and when it's my fault-"

"It's not your fault, Lance," I tried to interrupt him.

"Yes it is!" he yelled, stepping forward and shoving my shoulders so I stumbled backwards. "You're always perfect and if you mess up onstage it's just a little bit and people don't talk about you when you're right there and those mistakes don't repeat over and over in your head for hours on end so you can't think of anything else!"

"Who are you to say that, you don't know what goes on in my head," I said coldly, trying to force myself to remain calm. I had to be stable, for Lance's sake.  _Patience yields focus, like Shiro always says._ "And that's why we need to practice. So we can-"

"Practice doesn't make any difference!" Lance continued, stepping up and getting in my face again. "People are still going to whisper about to the two unnatural boys up on stage, people are going to whisper about the Puerto Rican boy who can't even get a dance of his own culture right, people are still going to-"

Acting on instinct, I reached forward and wrapped him in my arms tightly, feeling him break and begin to sob into my shoulder, his fists twisting in my shirt.

"It's okay," I said quietly, closing my eyes and rubbing his back. I didn't realize it completely, but I was thinking about what Shiro would do, what he would do for me in this moment. I was wondering how to show how much I cared about him and how I was there for him especially for moments like this, and maybe this was the way. "We can practice and go over the spots you can't get right, and if anyone says a thing about you just show me where they are and I'll beat them up." A quiet, choking laugh came from the huddled form in my grasp and I smiled, knowing I was doing something right. "And if people are being homophobic assholes, they shouldn't be at the restaurant anyway. We don't want their damn money." I paused before adding, "But if it'll make you feel better, I can put up my hair and wear heels and a dress."

Lance burst into laughter, leaning back and wiping his eyes. "No, I won't subject you to that torture," he laughed. "But if someone says something, you'll hear about it for sure so you can go beat them up."

I smiled. "You got it."

"Thank you, Keith," he said, taking a deep breath. "I just can't stop thinking about everything and... it just got to me, I guess."

"That's what I'm here for," I told him. "If you ever need someone to just stand there while you punch them - or punch back, if you feel like it'll help - I'm here for you."

"Hugs are pretty good, though," Lance smiled. "I think I'll stick with that."

"I'm here for that, too," I said. "Shiro's been warming me up to those lately."

"I can help you with that," he replied, a slight smirk on his lips. "If you want."

I shrugged. "Can't hurt, since it's you."

"I'm not sure how to take that sentence," he said, leaning in to hug me again.

"It's you," I said quietly, feeling my breath brush against his ear as I wrapped my arms around him again. "I don't think you could ever hurt me."

"I'm honored that you think so highly of me. I like to think I can't hurt people either, y'know," he said quietly, a weird emotion in his voice that I couldn't identify perfectly. "But somehow I always do."

I didn't know what he meant by that, but I didn't really need to. He'd already told me a lot today, I didn't need to push him any farther. "Well, I promise you Lance McClain, you can never hurt me in any way," I said, slowly unraveling myself from the hug.

He smiled at me. "I'll still do my best to make sure I don't."

We looked at each other in a slightly awkward but almost refreshing silence before I finally stretched and yawned, saying, "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to start moving around. Wanna start a run through?"

"This week's?" he asked, picking up the remote and starting to flip through the playlist of songs we'd decided to learn eventually.

"Yeah," I nodded, pulling my hair into a ponytail. "We can go back through the spots we mess up on or you want to highlight after that." I didn't get a response after a few seconds, and I turned around to see what the problem was. "Lance?" I said, looking over to see him staring at me, his mouth open slightly and his cheeks a deep red. "Lance, are you okay?" I asked, my finger tips lingering at my ears as I paused.

"Uh-I-uh-what?" he stuttered out, his face getting even redder, if that was possible, as he unfroze, running his hands through his own hair so it stood up at weird angles. "I, uh... ponytail? You, uh... you can do that?

"Yeah," I said, a small smile crossing my face. I had to admit, he was absolutely adorable when he was flustered. "I just never have before... is it okay?"

"W-why are you asking me?" Lance asked, frowning slightly but his eyes never leaving my face. It was kind of strange, the way he didn't seem able to look away. Was there something on my face? I gently ran my hands over my lips to make sure, but it only made his cheeks redder, so I stopped. What was his deal?

"I just wanted to know if it looked okay," I said, reaching up to take the ponytail holder out. "If it looks stupid I'll-"

"No!" he said, much too loudly. He seemed to realize this and sighed, looking like he was mentally slapping himself. "No," he said, quieter this time as he walked over and flicked the dark ponytail I was reaching to undo. "It looks..." he seemed to choke on his words a bit before regaining his composure. "It looks nice."

"Thanks," I said, giving him a small smile. "Now, are we going to stop talking and actually practice, or...?"

He grinned, muttering a breathy, "Oh, right," as he looked away. He selected the song and tossed the remote onto the couch as it loaded, the two of us moving into our opening positions as the first notes began to play. The run through went pretty well, definitely better than the performances we had done this week, which I guess we can blame on nerves. We still had some improvements to make, though, and spent an hour going through parts we were struggling with slowly and working them up to speed.

By the time we decided to take a break and switch to the new dance we wanted to work on, we were both sweaty and smiling weirdly. We were never this happy after such a harsh rehearsal... what was different this time? There was definitely a different energy between us this week, a few walls broken down and something weird in the way he kept looking at me with that look in his eyes whenever we were touching in any way. It unnerved me a bit since I didn't know why he kept doing it, but a tiny part of me liked it, strangely, and wanted to see that expression on his face more often.

"Do you want to just rush through it and see how it goes, get a feel for the music?" he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Get a sense of the razzle, and a bit of the dazzle? Get a-"

"I know what you're talking about, Lance," I cut him off, a little bubble of laughter making my chest tight as I pushed it down. A quick and unexpected thought crossed my mind, and I felt my expression shift for a second as I shut it down immediately.  _Why am I still hiding my happiness around him?_ "And I like that idea, see how badly we fail so we can see our improvement after a little while."

"That's one way to put it," he shrugged, getting up from his seat at the kitchen counter and grabbing the remote. He pulled up the new song and hit play, walking over and offering a hand as the music started to play. I took his hand, realizing for a moment just how familiar the feeling of our skin brushing together had become, and let him pull me up from my chair, moving into our opening position.

"We're like this, right?" I whispered. "It seems really unbalanced and weird."

"It's supposed to be, I think," he answered, a concentrated frown on his face as he thought hard. "Wait, no... I don't remember."

"This was a bad idea," I said as we started to move, immediately tripped over each other's feet and our grip on each other becoming fumbling and awkward. We grasped for each other almost desperately as we danced, noticing that we were off-beat and rushing to catch up, definitely not with our usual measured grace.

"Was our first rehearsal like this?" he asked, yelping as our hands missed and we lunged forward to try to hold onto each other again. "Was it this bad?"

"I don't know," I said, finding myself breathless and stressed as I tried to remember the moves we'd gone over maybe twice. "What's the next sequence?"

"I got lost the second we moved out of opening position, I've just been trying to mirror you," he replied, stumbling and nearly crashing into me. "Why did you let me suggest this?!"

"I thought it was a good idea!" I cried out as our feet caught and we both went crashing to the ground, the music ending as we groaned. I felt a warm weight on my chest and realized that Lance had fallen on top of me, his panting making our chests touch every few seconds as he breathed in and out heavily. "Are you okay?" I asked, reaching out to try to get him to look at me. He didn't seem too good.

"I'm sorry, that was a bad idea and we're already too tired and-" Lance finally raised his head to look at me and only then did we discover just how close our faces were, our noses almost touching. We didn't acknowledge his half-completed sentence, we didn't say anything about how we were literally on top of each other, we just stared at each other, trying to get air in because the other seemed to have stolen what little we had left. I could've sworn I felt his pulse speed up as my extended hand gently came to rest on his wrist, matching mine as I looked into his eyes, seeing that they seemed more grey than usual.

We seemed to realize what we were doing at the same time, moving so quickly that one second there were five inches between us and the next there were five feet. We looked at each other across the distance, his face as red as mine felt, both of us clearly trying to come up with an explanation.

"I, uh, just..." I stuttered out, speaking before I had a complete thought formed.

"Yeah," Lance nodded, both of us standing hesitantly, like the other was a wild animal we didn't want to scare. "I... me, too. I'll just-"

He moved to walk away and I found myself lunging forward, grabbing his wrist that I had been touching only seconds before and moving myself so we were face to face again, suddenly still too close. "Wait!"

"Keith, uh-" he said nervously, and something in his unsettled tone made me drop his arm immediately, shoving my hands into my pockets awkwardly.

"I, um... are your eyes always like that?" I blurted out.

"Like what?" he asked, something in them lighting up as I spoke.

"Gosh, this is a stupid question," I backtracked, realizing what I was doing and regretting it. I reached back and undid my ponytail, letting my hair cover my face and hide my blush. "Never mind."

"No, no, tell me," he insisted as I started to turn away, reaching forward. "What were you going to ask?" he said gently, his fingertips hovering just over my elbows.

_Either commit to the touch or not, that half-thing is driving me crazy._

"This is stupid and probably just because we're both too tired to think straight but-" I swallowed thickly, my throat seeming too dry. "Are your eyes always more grey when you're tired or something?"

"You noticed that?" he smiled, his voice almost a whisper. One hand went to his pocket and the other came up to rub the back of his neck as his cheeks got pink again. "I, uh... my mama always said my eyes changed slightly with whatever I was feeling, so I guess they could be more grey right now."

"Do you know what it means, exactly?" I asked hesitantly, crossing my arms and rubbing the spots where his hands had flitted over my skin, too scared to completely touch.

"Not really," he answered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I know when I'm feeling super strong emotions they get really  _really_ blue, or when I'm sad they get so grey you can't even tell they were ever blue - at least, that's what my sister Veronica says. I can't really tell myself, honestly. Every time I look at them in the mirror they always look exactly the same."

"They're kind of half-blue, half-grey right now," I told him, leaning forward to look closer. "I don't know what that means. That depends on whatever you're feeling right now, I guess."

"I don't really know that, either," he said, taking a step back slightly as I returned to my original stance. "I mean, I guess I'm happy? Or more like... content? I don't know, I can't tell."

"You're happy around me?" I asked quietly, a tiny smile coming onto my face.

"Is that even a question?" he replied, a grin spreading across his own. "What, do you not expect people to be happy around you? You make me plenty happy!"

"That's just a weird concept to me," I shrugged, hunching my shoulders over so I kind of curled up within myself. "It's unbelievable to me that I could make anyone happy, or have any kind of impact on someone."

Lance started to reach forward, then hesitated. "Can I hug you right now?" he asked. "You seem like you need a hug."

"Okay," I murmured, reaching out and wrapping my arms around his middle as he hugged me tightly.

"Of course you have an impact on people," he told me, his breath making my hair tickle my ear. "Everyone at the restaurant wouldn't be the same without you there, I can tell the difference. And Shiro has definitely been changed because of you, he actually asked Allura out yesterday afternoon! She said yes, obviously, and asked him why he hadn't before. And do you know what he told her? He said that he hadn't had the confidence before but you had helped him and he just went for it." There was a fierce passion in his words that made tears well in my eyes, and I clung to him tighter. "You've changed people, Keith," he insisted, like he wanted me to believe those words more than anything else in the world. "Why can't you see that?"

"I'm just so used to being invisible, I guess, or being a problem," I murmured, wondering subconsciously why I was telling him this. "It's so strange to think I could be having a positive effect on someone's life for once."

"When have you ever been a problem?" he asked. "Wait, no, don't answer that, I don't want you putting yourself down anymore. I'll answer for you:  _never_. In all the time I've known you, you have never been anything but a good thing to all of us, even when we were fighting and everyone was sick of it. It made life interesting around there, y'know? And maybe the others are grateful for that."

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Have I made a change for you?"

He pulled away suddenly, grabbing my shoulders and forcing me to look at him. "Keith Kogane, look me in my eyes and tell me you don't think I've changed since we've met," he told me, more blue coming into his irises as I stared at him almost in a daze. "Tell me you believe that you have not had a bit of an impact on me, I dare you." There was silence between us, stretching out until he broke it, pulling me into another hug and whispering, "I didn't think so."

I lost track of time, letting myself be small and get swallowed by his arms, by his body that always had so much love to give. I wrapped my own arms around his torso and held on tight, all thoughts vanishing from my mind except,  _I want this forever._

Eventually he let go and we untangled ourselves from each other, awkward blushes already rising to our cheeks. "Thank you, Lance," I murmured, looking down at the ground.

"Anytime," he replied, touching my shoulder one last time, and something in his voice made me believe it. Something made me truly believe that any time I needed reassurance from him, he would be there. I just hoped he knew it was the same from me.

"I guess we'll stick with the original dance this week and work on the other one next weekend?" I suggested, my heart skipping a beat when he started to laugh.

"Oh, right!" he said, a bright grin on his face. "Yeah, I guess we'll go with that for now."

"Well, in that case, I'm going to head home," I said, walking over to gather my things. "If that's okay with you."

"Sure," he said, helping me move the furniture back to its original places. "See you tomorrow, bright and early?"

"Bright and early," I nodded, a weird heaviness that always came over me at the thought of waking up early settling on my shoulders as I remembered it. "See you then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

That night, Shiro and I spent a whole hour talking about the events of the day. He told me that we really did look good together on the stage, which I denied of course and said we still had a long way to go. But he insisted that there was something more than practiced skill that made us such a good pair when we were dancing, there was some kind of natural flow between us that made us a good team for things like that.

I just blushed and told him to shut up, that he needed to tell me all about this date with Allura he had somehow forgotten to mention to me. He told me that they'd been hanging out for a while and basically dating, but now they were going to make it official. I was happy for him, I really was, but something about the way he said "official" made me wary, like he was talking about more than just the labels "boyfriend and girlfriend" and something more permanent. I didn't ask him about it, though, instead asking him more and more questions. It made him happy to talk about Allura, so I let him. I felt like that my job as his brother, after all: to make him happy.

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sexual tension, thy name is Klance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, we're almost at the end! Just two or three more chapters and it's over! I'm going to go back through and edit at some point hopefully, but there won't be any major plot changes, just some basic grammar adjustments and making sure the plot is consistent (which I'm pretty sure it's not). Thanks for sticking through this mess this long and as always, hope you enjoy!

**Lance POV**

The weeks passed by in a blur, the repetition of Keith's and my performance keeping us from making too many mistakes. I noticed Allura and Shiro were open about their relationship now, holding hands as they walked on and off the stage, and standing super close together during breaks. One Friday after a particularly good performance, Allura even kissed him on the cheek in front of everyone! The audience immediately fell in love with them after that, and they remained the crowd favorite, as expected.

Keith and I were getting better at our new dance, and a couple weeks after the Chaotic Weekend Practice of Emotions, as I'd deemed it in my head, we decided to try it out on stage. That morning before anyone arrived, we ran through it without any obvious mistakes, though both of us could tell the other was nervous. Keith's hands were sweating like crazy in my grip, and I gave them a slight squeeze as we moved out of our final position, smiling at him when he looked at me questioningly.

"We're going to do great," I told him, my heart skipping a beat when he smiled back at me. He was starting to smile more often, at least from what I'd seen, and it sent me into bi panic every time.

"I hope so," Keith murmured in reply as we let the next act take the stage for rehearsal, a faint blush on his cheeks as I ran my thumb gently over the back of his hand. Or maybe I was just imagining it from the light... "We're finally changing some things up, I don't want it to be a wreck."

"It won't," I promised, bumping his shoulder with mine lightly. "We've worked too hard for this to fail now." I tried to pretend I wasn't internally screaming about the fact that we were still holding hands, and we stayed that way until we had to wipe down tables.

The restaurant was packed all day, and we barely had time for our usual banter between trips to the kitchen or our tables. I felt a little lonely without Keith there, teasing that he would get more tips that day and all I was going to get would be a few more phone numbers for the ever-growing basket in the kitchen. I made every effort I could to catch him on a break or when he was in the kitchen, acting on instinct rather than thinking through why I was so desperate to be near him.

About the time Allura and Shiro took the stage to open the show and we went backstage to get ready for ours, I realized just how much I wanted to hug him, to just feel his warmth and know that he was there. I paused, literally, and he nearly bumped into me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, worry in his eyes.

"Just nerves, I guess," I said, shaking out my arms and running through one of the more difficult footwork patterns in my head. "But we're going to do great, so I don't know why I'm so worried." _Or why I want to kiss you so bad_.

It was strange, really. Only a few months ago, I'd wanted to kill him. And now here I was, wanting him to - okay, we're going to pretend I did  _not_ just think about that. I felt my face grow red, like he could somehow see into my head, and focused on stretching instead, pulling my arm behind my head and breathing out heavily as my muscles tensed.

"You okay? You seem kind of... off today," Keith asked from the floor, where he was stretching out his leg and tying his hair into a ponytail.

"Just tired, maybe," I shrugged, switching to the other arm and looking away before I could see him with his hair tied back. My stomach was tingling with those weird butterflies like they always did right before we performed, and I thought of how I hadn't had those when I'd performed before. When I was little, I had done shows with my older siblings for my family all the time, not to mention I'd been in every school play I'd been allowed to participate in, but something... fuck, it was Keith, wasn't it?

I felt my breath rush out of my lungs as the thought came to me, staring off into space in shock. God, I was so dumb! I got that stupid feeling when he fell on top of me that one weekend, and all of those times we'd touched by accident and... fuck. I'd known I'd had a crush on him, I wasn't that dense, but I hadn't known it was this intense. This was worse than any other crush I'd been faced with, and look at how those at ended: in my humiliation and branding as the "hopeless romantic" of high school, obviously! And with someone like Keith, who so clearly thought of me as nothing more than a friend... I was screwed.

"Hey, are you really okay?" he asked now, a gentle hand on my shoulder snapping me out of my thoughts. His face was  _seriously_ close to mine, and his eyes looked so wide, I just wanted to kiss him right there and - okay, McClain, really? Control yourself more than this, that's just pathetic. "I know you get nervous before shows and even during rehearsals and stuff, but this is worse than usual. I can text Pidge and we can just do the old one if you want, that's perfectly okay. It doesn't matter if-"

I lunged forward, giving into the temptation I'd been fighting all day, and wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder so he couldn't see my burning face. He instantly returned the hug, something I hadn't really expected, and I felt him rest his chin on my shoulder.

"Sorry I've been weird today, I don't really know what's up," I lied, my voice quiet. "I promise, I'll be normal by the end of the day, at least by tomorrow. You don't have to worry about me."

"As soon as you figure out what's wrong, tell me, okay?" he asked, one of his hands absentmindedly toying with my belt in the back. "I want to do whatever I can to help you."

"Of course," I said, wincing as the false words fell from my lips. I could barely think straight, between his body heat and his hand playing with my belt and his voice all whisper-y so close to my ear... _Fuckkkkkkkkk_.

Cheers from the crowd broke me out of my stupor, and Keith pulled away slowly, his hands resting on my shoulders. "We're going to do great, just like you said, okay?" he told me, so close our foreheads were almost touching. "We're going to do amazing and you'll get any girl in that crowd you could possibly want."

"Or guy," I reminded him, grinning at the smile and blush that spread across his face in the darkness.  _What if you're the one I want, and yet I still can't possibly have you?_

"Right," he said, squeezing my shoulders firmly. "Let's do this."

I nodded, setting my jaw, and we walked confidently out onto stage, linking hands when we got to the center and bowing together before taking our starting positions. The stage seemed warmer than usual, and I could've sworn Keith had hot packs in his sleeves or something, because his hands on my shoulder and waist seemed to be burning through my clothes right down to my skin. I heard the chatter go down, felt Keith's breath against my ear as he murmured, "Let's go," and suddenly we were moving, the music just background sound blending in to the dull roar of my blood pounding in my head as my body moved on instinct, countless hours of practice letting me go through each series of movements without even realizing I was doing them.

Before I could even process that we had started, it was over, and we were in our final position with Keith holding me in a low dip, my hand tangled in his ponytail as I wrapped my leg around his waist. He stared down at me as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face, his chest heaving while he smirked at me, despite his breathless state. His lips looked more red than usual, and locks of his dark hair that had gotten free from his hair-tie stuck up in a wild arrangement around his face that was somehow  _really fucking hot._ Without fully thinking about what I was doing, I started leaning forward, the image of his lips on mine taking over every muscle in my body. I felt him moving too, bending down to-

"Keith Kogane and Lance McClain, everybody!"

Allura's voice shook us both to the core, making us jump up to standing position and bow quickly before practically sprinting offstage, our hands no longer linked. I turned to look at him, to try to explain myself, to apologize, to do I didn't even know what, but he was already running away towards the kitchen. "Keith!" I shouted over the noise of the crowd, but he was already gone, disappearing through the door and ripping his hair free from its ponytail before I could even step forward to chase after him.

The day seemed to drag on after that. Keith seemed to avoid me every chance he got, ducking out of the kitchen with a quiet, "I need to check on my tables," or something whenever I walked inside, and always keeping at least two tables between us if we were working in the same area.

"Hey, what's up with you and Keith?" Hunk asked after Keith ran out of the kitchen for the fifth time midway through giving an order, the paper fluttering to the ground. 

I swooped down to pick it up and leaned against the counter without looking at it, sighing. "Did you watch our performance?"

"Yeah, you guys were amazing! I really like that new dance of yours!" Hunk said, his face lighting up in a smile. "But what does that- oh."

"Yup," I nodded, sighing again. "Big mistake on my part, and I can't even apologize to him since he runs away every time I get within five feet of him."

"Maybe try to catch him before he leaves?" Hunk suggested. "I'm sorry, I'm not super good with love advice. That's usually your thing."

I smiled despite myself, looking up at him. "Yeah, but even Loverboy Lance is stuck at this point," I said sadly.

"I'd love to have you keep talking to me, I really would, but it's packed out there and I really need to get the rest of that order," Hunk interrupted before I could say anything else, gesturing to the paper in my hand.

"Yeah, I understand," I said quickly, standing up straight again. I looked down at the paper and went to read Keith's chicken scratch, a talent I had perfected over the months of our friendship, but something in the right corner caught my eye instead. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at the beautifully drawn pen sketch of... was that me? And were those... flowers in my hair?

"Lance?"

"Right, right," I said, quickly reading off the rest of the order and placing the paper back on the counter for Keith to grab the next time he came in. Hopefully he wouldn't miss the bit in the top right corner too much...

* * *

 

There was no afternoon performance that day, so I didn't see Keith again until we were wiping down tables together after doors had closed for the day. I moved towards him once to try to talk to him, but he practically ran back towards the kitchen, mumbling something about his turn to do inventory or whatever. I just sighed and finished wiping tables on my own, the tiny scrap of paper with my face on it seeming to burn a hole through my pocket.

By the time I was done, everyone but Pidge and Romelle had already left, the two girls sitting in the employee room together and talking.

"Hey Lance," Romelle waved as I walked in. "What's wrong?" he asked, seeing my openly distressed expression.

"Boy troubles," I sighed, taking off my apron and putting it away.

"Keith?" Pidge asked.

"How'd you know?" I demanded, turning to her. She yelped at my loud voice as I asked, "Did Hunk tell you? Does Keith know? Does-"

"Lance, relax," Romelle smiled. "Let's just say... you're pretty obvious about it."

"Anyone with two brain cells could see you guys are sickeningly in love," Pidge said simply, adjusting her glasses on her nose.

"Wait, he knows?!" I shouted, immediately starting to panic.

"No, you dummy, he's as oblivious as you," Pidge said, sighing. "It's exhausting, really. Like just get together already so we don't have to deal with all this teen angst bullshit."

"Hey, I'm in college!" I protested. "And what do you mean, 'oblivious as me'?"

Romelle giggled. "You're right, Pidge! He really doesn't know!"

"Know what?!" I asked.

"Not my secret to tell," Pidge said simply, standing and grabbing her things. "You ready to go, Romelle?"

"Where are you guys going?" I asked weakly, only half-expecting an answer by now.

"I'm giving Romelle a ride home, her brother is getting his license today so he has her car," Pidge explained.

"I don't think we'll be having that car much longer with Bandor driving it now," Romelle smiled. "He's... not the best driver."

"Well, see you tomorrow, Lance!" Pidge said, opening the door.

"Bye, Lance!" Romelle called, following her out. "Hope it all works out with Keith!"

Pidge said something I couldn't hear and they laughed, the door shutting behind them. I sighed, practically collapsing onto one of the benches in exhaustion.

"Girls," I muttered, shaking my head. "They make absolutely no sense."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Partially noted for me but the dip at the end of their performance looked kind of like this: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjHuZGmwLffAhXuc98KHd9VCY4QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ssqq.com%2Ftravel%2Fssqqtravel2b.htm&psig=AOvVaw1lNWEhHmmMI9hz83sdO8km&ust=1545707610357992 but with Lance's hand on the back of Keith's neck (well, supposed to be, just he changes moves to get closer to Keith *wink wonk*) and his left (?) leg wrapped around Keith's waist.


End file.
